How safe is telenursing from home?

OBJECTIVE To compare the work of telenurses working from home with that of their colleagues working in a health call centre. DESIGN A retrospective review of existing clinical and other data. SETTING NURSE-ON-CALL, the telephone triage and advice line operated for the Department of Human Services, Victoria by McKesson Asia Pacific. SUBJECTS Nurses employed by McKesson Asia Pacific, Victoria, Australia working in their call centre and from home. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Comparison between nurses working from home with those working in the centre: demographics and dispositions of callers, management of mystery callers, frequency of risk incidents, productivity, and satisfaction. RESULTS Callers sought triage for the same range of symptoms and were triaged to similar dispositions; mystery callers were managed similarly; there were a similar number of risk incidents. Nurses working from home were more productive, took fewer days sick leave and had a lower attrition rate. Nurses working from home identified more flexible hours and less travel as advantages. No disadvantages were identified. CONCLUSIONS Nurses who worked from home were provided with adequate education for their role, full technological facilities, decision support software, ready access to supervision and continuing education. They managed a similar range of cases as nurses working in a health call centre, did so as safety, were more productive and expressed high levels of satisfaction.