What is a Nurse’s Role in the eICU? Everything That You Need to Know

• eICUs are a form of telehealth that allow nurses to monitor patients, tailor care plans, and collaborate with interdisciplinary team members remotely. Wow!
• A handful of hospitals around the country have begun utilizing eICUs, which has created more job opportunities for nurses.
• Not quite sure what your role in the eICU would be? No worries! Nursing CE Central has everything you need to know!

It is incredible to see how far modern nursing practices have come!  

We are now able to promote better patient care and increase outcomes through the utilization of eICUs; how amazing is that? 

Not sure what I mean? Allow me to enlighten you – keep reading! 

What is the eICU? How Does it Apply to Nursing? 

Otherwise known as the “tele-ICU,” an eICU is a virtual-based monitoring and facilitating system for healthcare providers, specifically for nurses and intensivists.  

The Baptist Health of South Florida’s Director of Telehealth and eICU, Lisa-Mae Williams, tells USA Today that eICU nurses serve as a second set of eyes when taking care of patients in critical care.  

“It’s like an air traffic control center where patients are the blips on radar, and we’re the controllers making sure everything goes smoothly,” she said.  

In 2020, UK HealthCare in Lexington, Kentucky, launched the state’s first eICU clinical command center.  

The organization partnered with Royal Philips to roll out eCareManager, which utilizes advanced analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) to synthesize patient data and deliver actionable insights to support proactive care.  

UK HealthCare is currently implementing a centralized virtual care model in order to help providers detect risks of patient deterioration, so they can intervene earlier and further improve care outcomes. 

The organization’s eICU provides 24/7 remote care monitoring and access to specialists for patients in various departments, including: 

• Neurology 
• Trauma 
• Surgery 
• Post-anesthesia care 
• Medical intensive care  
• Emergency 
• Cardiovascular 

UK Healthcare’s eICU also aims to improve bed utilization and patient flow across its two hospitals, totaling at 160 ICU beds.  

Now that we have covered what an eICU is and the various units it can be utilized for, where does your nursing experience come into play and what requirements do you need to meet? Let’s dive in! 

A Nurse’s Role in the eICU  

Non-profit organization and Illinois’ largest health system, Advocate Health Care, outlines a few of the daily expectations of eICU nurses, including: 

• Providing around-the-clock real-time audio and video monitoring of ICU patients from a central monitoring center.  
• Working collaboratively with board-certified physicians and interdisciplinary team members to ensure each patient’s care plan is tailored to meet their needs.  
• Enduring delivery of evidence-based protocols. 

Requirements and Qualifications 

Nurse-founded, centric travel nursing agency, Gifted Healthcare, highlights the main qualifications that you may need in order to pursue an eICU nursing role: 

• Current state RN licensure. 
• Bachelor’s degree is also preferred. 
• Current Basic Life Support (BLS) and the American Heart Association Advanced Course in Life Support (ACLS) required. 
• Minimum of 3-5 years of critical care nursing experience required. 
• On occasion, temporary relocation to an eICU center or “war room” is required. 

In an eICU, the critical care nurses and physicians are remote.  

They can run and document codes, walk the patient’s in-person care team through various bedside procedures while also speaking directly to patients and family members should they need guidance in making difficult decisions. 

Additionally, based on their experience and skillset, an eICU nurse has the potential to receive a higher pay scale than ICU nurses.  

 With the continuous advancement of medical technology along with the utilization of telehealth, do you think you have what it takes to be an eICU nurse? 

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