A growing number of hospitals use telenursing services to monitor patients and coordinate care with colleagues at the bedside. Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth Houston PhD student Caitlin McVey Weinheimer is studying how such teams work together to care for elderly patients.

Weinheimer, MBA, BSN, RN, has received a $7,000 grant from the Speros Martel Endowment for the Aging to support her dissertation project, “Exploring Teamwork Between Virtual and Bedside Nurses: A Grounded Theory Study.”

“To compensate for nursing shortages, hospital leaders use telenursing services to support patient care delivery in the acute care setting,” Weinheimer said. “However, nearly half of the clinicians surveyed reported concerns that telehealth may not be accessible or align with elderly patients’ preferences, causing them to opt out of this resource.”

Through her project, Weinheimer aims to explore the experiences of teamwork in telenursing with the elderly inpatient population, identify key components that promote integration of virtual and bedside nursing, and support development of a new teamwork theory.

Co-investigators are associate professors Carina Katigbak, PhD, RN, ANP-BC, FAHA, and Maja Djukic, PhD, RN, FAAN, along with PhD student, Jessica Thomas MSN, RN, and Eduardo Salas, a professor of psychological sciences at Rice University.