For the 78th episode of Healthcare IT Today’s CIO Podcast, we talk with Yolanda VanRiel, PhD, RN, MEDSURG-BC, OCN, CNE, ANEF, associate professor and department head of nursing at North Carolina Central University (also available at NCCU Online), about the current state of nursing in healthcare! We start this episode by discussing the biggest challenges facing nursing today. Then, we take a look at the number of nurses on strike and talk about what’s causing it and what leaders can do to avoid it. Next, we examine the current state of nurse staffing ratios and discuss what can go wrong when ratios are wrong. Then, we turn to the topic of virtual nursing. We discuss how we think virtual nursing impacts some of the topics we’ve discussed and ask why it hasn’t been more widely adopted in healthcare. We then share how we think technology is impacting nurses, for better and for worse. To conclude this episode, VanRiel offers advice for all nurses in the industry.

Here’s a look at the questions and topics we discuss in this episode:

• What major challenges does nursing face today?
• Why are there so many strikes in the nursing sector and what can managers do to prevent this?
• What is the current state of nursing staffing, what can be done about it and what are some of the effects of incorrect staffing ratios?
• What impact do you think virtual care will have on some of these issues? Why is it not being adopted more widely in healthcare?
• What impact – for better or for worse – do you think technology is having on nursing staff?
• What advice would you give to a nurse in this industry today?

And now, without further ado, we are pleased to present the next episode of Healthcare IT Today’s CIO Podcast.