Many nurses say it is important for them to know the physician who is on call for telehealth consultations in an intensive care unit, according to a study published in the American Journal of Critical Care, MedPage Today reports.
The study is based on 93 responses to an online survey administered to ICU nurses at two university-affiliated hospitals with telehealth programs.
The study found that:
- 79% of respondents said it was important to be personally acquainted with the physician on call for telehealth consultations; and
- 61% said knowing the remote physician would affect how likely they were to communicate with remote staff.
Researchers also asked nurses about their acceptance of telehealth services and found that:
- 82% of respondents said they had confidence in the recommendations of remote staff;
- 72% of respondents said they believed telehealth consultations improved the survival rate of ICU patients; and
- 44% of respondents said they regularly followed suggestions made by remote staff.
In addition, researchers asked nurses how often they communicated with remote staff through the telehealth program and found that:
- 89% of respondents said they had contacted remote staff two or fewer times during the previous six months; and
- 70% of respondents said that remote staff had contacted them two or fewer times during the previous six months (Ullman, MedPage Today, 1/8).