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Professional Development
My Journey in Nursing: Into the Virtually Unknown

By Ashley Arbilo, BSN, RN, CVRN-BC

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My journey in nursing is one that many nurses may recognize. Starting on a new unit often brings excitement, uncertainty and questions about what to expect and who to turn to.
I was working as a new ICU nurse when I learned that I was pregnant, and my doctor recommended a role that would be less physically demanding. Then, like a Fairy Godmother, my former leadership approached me about a unique opportunity—helping to build a TeleNursing program to support bedside nurses. I instantly jumped in for what I would later describe as an opportunity of a lifetime.
When I arrived on my first day, I anticipated a unit's familiar sights and sounds: the buzzing of equipment, the calls of patients and monitors and the rustling of paperwork. Instead, I walked into a quiet, open office with computer monitors. I instantly felt out of place, but my Director Steve Klahn and Project Manager Melissa Gomez Kuerbitz eased my transition into TeleNursing.
At first, I was unfamiliar with many of the technology programs. Thankfully, with guidance from our amazing virtual IT team, I learned how to develop and navigate through workflows and processes. The transition from bedside nursing to a virtual role felt different from simply moving to a new bedside unit. I needed to develop a new skill set focused on technology and the adaptability of a new department. Despite this, the core of my work— the care I provided and developed with my patients at the bedside—remains unchanged. My conversations and recommendations to patients and their families as a TeleNurse held the same value as they did at the bedside.
In many ways, this role allows for deeper patient connections and provides uninterrupted time. My focus is to support my bedside colleagues in admissions and discharges so that they can focus on hands-on tasks, tend to their critical patients or simply get a well-deserved break. Through admissions, I can hear my patients' and families' concerns and questions, address time-sensitive assessments and questionnaires, and hopefully instill confidence and calm that their care will be handled with the highest quality we are known to provide. With discharges, I can conduct in-depth reviews with the patients based on the information their nurse and treatment team supplied, empowering them to recover successfully at home. Through years of experience as a charge nurse and preceptor, I feel confident in my care when I talk to patients, even remotely.
Since the inception of this program, we have been expanding rapidly, seemingly adding a new unit and hospital every other week. This growth is a testament to our positive impact of the bedside team. Additionally, I have been able to network with various interdisciplinary departments on how TeleNursing can help improve quality processes. I am excited to see how we will continue to evolve and pave the way forward in TeleNursing.