Nursing has always been a hands-on profession, deeply rooted in direct patient care. However, the rise of telehealth is changing that landscape, offering nurses new career opportunities that extend beyond the walls of traditional healthcare settings. With hospitals, clinics, and private practices increasingly adopting virtual care solutions, nurses are now pivotal in delivering remote healthcare services.
This shift is about more than convenience—it’s about accessibility, efficiency, and expanding the reach of nursing expertise to patients who might otherwise struggle to receive timely care. The American Medical Association (AMA) reported that in 2018, 25.1% of physicians were in practices that used telehealth. This figure rose to 79% in 2020 and declined slightly to 74.4% in 2022.
Telemedicine adoption is reshaping nursing roles, requiring new skills, and opening doors to career paths that didn’t exist a decade ago.
How Telehealth Is Changing Nursing Roles
The integration of telehealth into nursing transformed job responsibilities and the skills required to succeed. Here are some of the most notable ways telehealth is shaping nursing careers.
Expanding Access to Patients in Underserved Areas
Telehealth has bridged the gap for patients in rural and remote locations, allowing nurses to provide care where it was previously unavailable. Through virtual consultations, nurses can assess symptoms, monitor chronic conditions, and educate patients on managing their health—reducing unnecessary emergency room visits and hospital admissions.
Nurses in telehealth roles support patients with limited mobility, elderly individuals, and those facing transportation challenges. This expansion of services improves patient outcomes and allows nurses to make a meaningful impact on a broader population.
New Career Paths in Virtual Nursing
Telehealth creates opportunities for nurses to transition into roles that offer greater flexibility and work-life balance. Some of the emerging career options include:
- Telehealth triage nurses: These professionals assess patient symptoms over the phone or video calls, directing them to the appropriate level of care, whether it’s self-management, a virtual consultation, or an in-person visit.
- Remote chronic care management nurses: Nurses specializing in telehealth help patients manage long-term conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease through virtual check-ins and ongoing monitoring.
- Nurse informaticists in telehealth: As technology plays a greater role in healthcare, nurses trained in informatics work to improve telehealth systems, ensuring seamless patient care and data integration.
Shifting from Acute Care to Preventative and Follow-Up Care
One of telehealth’s biggest contributions to nursing is its ability to enhance preventative care. Instead of waiting for patients to develop serious health complications, nurses can engage with them early—monitoring vital signs remotely, educating them on medication adherence, and providing lifestyle counseling.
Follow-up care is another area where telehealth is making a difference. Nurses can conduct virtual post-surgical or post-hospitalization check-ins, ensuring patients are healing properly and addressing any concerns before they become major complications.
Enhancing Nurse-Patient Communication
Telehealth tools allow nurses to maintain more consistent communication with their patients. Through patient portals, messaging apps, and video calls, nurses can provide support between in-person visits, improving patient engagement and adherence to treatment plans.
Studies show that most patients who used telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic were satisfied with their virtual care experience, and many continue to prefer it for routine consultations.
In some cases, AI-powered chatbots and automated reminders assist nurses in managing large patient populations, allowing them to focus on high-priority cases while ensuring every patient receives guidance and follow-up care.
The Need for Telehealth-Specific Training
While telehealth opens new career paths, it requires nurses to develop additional competencies beyond traditional clinical skills. Some key areas of training include:
- Technology proficiency: Nurses must be comfortable using electronic health records (EHRs), telehealth platforms, and remote monitoring devices to deliver seamless care.
- Virtual communication skills: Effective patient communication in a telehealth setting requires rapport without physical interaction, as well as skills in active listening and clear instruction.
- Data security and compliance: Understanding HIPAA regulations and cybersecurity best practices is critical when handling patient data in a virtual environment.
Many nursing programs and continuing education providers are now offering courses tailored to telehealth, preparing nurses for this growing field.
Challenges of Telehealth in Nursing
Despite its benefits, telehealth comes with its own set of challenges, including:
- Technology barriers for patients: Not all patients have reliable internet or the technical skills needed for virtual appointments. Nurses must find ways to bridge these gaps through patient education and alternative communication methods.
- Licensing and regulatory considerations: Telehealth often requires nurses to hold licenses in multiple states, depending on where their patients are located. This requirement can create logistical hurdles for those looking to expand their telehealth practice.
- Maintaining a personal connection: While virtual care is convenient, some nurses worry that the lack of physical interaction may lead to lowered patient trust and engagement. Developing strong virtual bedside manner techniques can help mitigate this concern.
The Future of Nursing in Telehealth
As telehealth technology advances, nursing roles will continue to evolve. In the coming years, we can expect to see:
- Greater integration of artificial intelligence (AI): AI-driven diagnostics, predictive analytics, and virtual nursing assistants will support nurses in managing larger patient populations.
- More hybrid roles: Nurses may split their time between in-person and virtual care, balancing direct patient interaction and remote healthcare delivery.
- Policy changes to support telehealth nursing: As telehealth becomes a standard part of healthcare, regulatory bodies may introduce more streamlined licensing processes and reimbursement models to support nurses.
Telehealth and Your Future
Telehealth is no longer a temporary solution—it’s a permanent and growing part of healthcare. For nurses, this shift presents new challenges and exciting opportunities for career advancement, flexibility, and the ability to reach more patients.
At Gotham Companies, we recognize the impact telehealth has on nursing careers and work closely with healthcare facilities to connect them with skilled telehealth nurses. Whether you’re a nurse looking to explore virtual care opportunities or a healthcare organization seeking top talent, we can help. Contact us today to learn more about telehealth staffing solutions.
