Nurses are a central part of the use of technologies in health care. As such, telenursing is not a new role for nurses. There is evidence of existence of the role of telenurses for more than 25 years. In fact, any nurse who has provided guidance, education, or lab results over the telephone has taken part in telenursing. However, telenursing can also include more sophisticated systems than the telephone, such as two-way audio and video systems, Internet, satellite, and other communication systems.

Telenursing is gaining increasing attention as the role of the telenursing is being realized. iTelehealth has played a role in some ground-breaking initiatives in telenursing:

NTAI

Due to the world-wide nursing shortage, the Nursing Telehealth Applications Initiative (NTAI) was conceptualized and initiated in an effort to find new ways to deliver health care and nursing education. Through this initiative, iTelehealth was able to research feasibility, and ultimately pilot the Virtual Clinical Practicum®, a program to provide clinical education to nursing students at a distance. This ground-breaking research has shown the VCP® to be a viable option to address some of the issues in nursing education.

Also part of the NTAI was the 2004-2005 International Role Study, in which telenurses from around the world were surveyed in order to assess the current state of telenursing along with international aspects of telenursing preparation and practice. The web-based survey was answered by 719 nurses in 36 countries who work with telehealth technologies. The survey responses helped researchers to identify the characteristics of telenurses, satisfaction with current roles, information related to knowledge and skills, opinions on education in telehealth, and perceptions of the impact of telenursing. A unique survey, the results paint a picture of the profession as a whole. Furthermore, the results of this global survey were used to create the ICN's International Competencies for Telenursing, which offer unity and standards to the telenursing profession as a whole.

To purchase your copy of the Telenursing Role Study or the International Competencies for Telenursing, please visit our e-commerce center.

ISfTeH Telenursing Working Group

iTelehealth is proud to be involved in the formation and foundation of the International Society for Telemedicine and eHealth (ISfTeH) Telenursing Working Group. The Working Group is aimed at advancing telenursing practice internationally by involving nurses in telehealth applications. The international telenursing network was formed with the endeavor of increasing adoption of telehealth, sharing knowledge, and increasing collaboration and education among telenurses internationally.

For more information or to become a member of the Telenursing Working Group, visit http://www.isft.net/cms/index.php?telenursing

ICN Telenursing Network

The International Council of Nurses (ICN) is a federation of national nurses' associations that represents nurses in more than 128 countries. The overall purpose of the organization is to advance the nursing profession, influence health policy, and represent nurses worldwide. ICN has several networks in place for the exchange of knowledge and expertise among nurses in a particular clinical area.

Telenursing has been recognized as an important factor in meeting ICN's goal of the advancement nursing practice around the world, and iTelehealth has been instrumental in the development a Telenursing Network. The goals of the network include increasing the involvement of nurses in the development and use of telehealth technologies, while serving as a platform for collaboration, education, and support related to telenursing.

For more information on the ICN Telenursing Network, visit http://www.icn.ch/telenursing_network.htm

NIGH/ Nightingale Declaration

iTelehealth, Inc. supports the Nightingale Initiative for Global Health (NIGH) and the Nightingale Declaration as the key step for uniting nurses via the Internet to revolutionize healthcare delivery. Nurses everywhere are charged with working efficiently and effectively to build a healthy world. This seemingly daunting task, building a healthier world, can be achieved through collaboration and cooperation between nurses across the globe. It is imperative that nurses unite on a local, national, and even global scale, and the Nightingale Declaration aims to achieve this unity.

The Nightingale Declaration is a powerful catalyst for advancing the practice of nursing on a global scale in order to create a healthier world. With telecommunications technologies to connect nurses to each other and to their patients, we can begin to work together and meet the goals of NIGH, regardless of geographic location. Using telehealth technologies, we can reach out to nurses and our patients in the most remote locations in the world.

To learn more about the NIGH, or to sign the Nightingale Declaration, please visit https://www.nightingaledeclaration.net/declaration/healthy/

Publications

Explore some of our publications about telenursing.

NLM Search

For more information on Telenursing or Telehealth in general, click here to conduct a tailored search of the National Library of Medicine.