National Nurses United

TG: That's right. I think the overall trend and concept that we want [everyone] to understand is that the industry just wants to minimize how much it spends on hands-on nursing care, by any means necessary. It doesn't matter if it degrades our nursing scope, or if it's dangerous for our patients or for our licenses. Again, it's all about the bottom line. So one of the main ways they are doing this is through telehealth, Cathy. You know, I cannot think of a better cover than Covid for pro- viding the industry the perfect excuse to shift everything away from in-person care, and for the rest of the world to just go along with it and even think that it's a good thing. Now, don't get me wrong, Cathy. We nurses are not against all telehealth or health care IT. The way we judge technology is whether it helps us in our practice as nurses, or whether it harms our prac- tice. And whether the technology is being used appropriately or inappropriately. Unfortunately, the vast majority of this technology was never intended to enhance our practice. Again, the reason for this technol- ogy is motivated by that bottom line. Instead of investing in real, human nurses to provide hands-on nursing care, the industry wants to use telehealth to hire fewer of us and, ultimately, to replace us. CK: Yes, Trish. I can see that there are times and places where telehealth technology can be useful. Certainly, during Covid it made sense for some patient visits to be done over video, but the problem is when the industry wants to make telehealth the new normal and the expectation of an in-person exam becomes some- thing that is not standard anymore and that you have to fight for. Because, as nurses, we all agree: Nothing replaces an in-person assessment and evaluation. TG: It's so true, Cathy. I used to work for years as a telephone advice nurse at Kaiser, so I'm quite familiar with this phenomenon. Sure, phone triage and professional advice from an RN is great in the middle of the night when your kiddo has a high fever and all the offices are closed. But what we saw was Kaiser essentially forcing patients to call in by phone, wait in a long queue, because they shortened clinic hours and cut weekend drop-in visits. Our patients had no other option. And then once they call, they don't get to talk to a nurse right away. They've got to get past the clerical gatekeeper who tries to keep them from even speaking to an RN. CK: Right. It's really insidious to me how the industry always cheerleads telehealth as the answer to better health care for "mar- ginalized" people in poor and rural communities. [They want to do this] instead of investing in health infrastructure for these commu- nities, and on real, human nurses, doctors, and nurse practitioners to care for them in person. They want all of them to "video chat" with a provider 3,000 miles away. Not to mention all the people left behind who simply do not have access to technology—albeit it, a computer, cell phone and iPad/tablets and better yet–who may have a language barrier. We really need to take a good look at different corporations want- ing to enter the field of telehealth now, everybody wants a little piece of that pie. Amazon is one and yet we all see how they treat the workers: providing only minimum wages and inhumane working 22 N A T I O N A L N U R S E W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G A P R I L | M AY | J U N E 2 0 2 1 "The industry wants to make telehealth the new normal and the expectation of an in-person exam becomes something that is not standard anymore and that you have to fight for. Because, as nurses, we all agree: Nothing replaces an in-person assessment and evaluation."

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