JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Virtual healthcare, originating in telephone-based delivery, has been utilized for more than forty-five years, however, literature portrays a slow uptake in embedding content related to virtual care practice in nursing and other health related education. This has led to a widening education-practice gap.

Objective:

To locate 1) clinical guidelines for nurses and other health professionals undertaking routine virtual health (telehealth) assessment, triage, and follow-up care; and 2) curricula for preparing health professionals for virtual care. Then, informed by the literature, gather qualitative data and progress co-design activities within a major cancer treatment service to define core competencies and develop curricula for nurses engaged in telehealth clinics.

Methods:

A phased multi-method study including reviews of existing literature followed by qualitative (in-depth interviews), quantitative (online survey) methodologies and co-design workshops to achieve project aims. Implementation will involve a pilot and evaluation before full roll-out of the developed guidelines and syllabus.

Results:

Literature reviews completed in the initial phase of this project confirm a paucity of existing guidelines for virtual health assessment and an urgent need to develop telehealth or virtual care competency frameworks and curricula for health professionals in training or practice. We propose an approach to develop and test these materials in practice.

Conclusions:

Literature reviews completed in the initial phase of this project confirm a paucity of existing guidelines for virtual health assessment and an urgent need to develop telehealth or virtual care competency frameworks and curricula for health professionals in training or practice. We propose an approach to develop and test these materials in practice. Clinical Trial: A non-randomized study