$3.3 Million Federal Grant to Investigate Whether Virtual Nursing Can Curb a Burnout Crisis Pushing Nurses Out of the Profession
A University of North Carolina researcher has secured a $3.3 million federal grant to study whether virtual nursing — now used in nearly half of U.S. hospitals — can meaningfully reduce the burnout that is driving nurses out of the workforce at alarming rates. The funding, awarded by the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), will support a five-year study running from February 2026 through November 2030.
Saif Khairat, PhD, MPH, leads the project, titled “Evaluating Nurse Demands and Resources with Virtual Nursing to Mitigate Burnout.” The research comes as the U.S. nursing workforce faces a deepening structural crisis with direct consequences for patient care.
The Scale of the Burnout Problem
Roughly 40% of nurses report high levels of burnout, and many are leaving their positions before retirement. The causes are systemic: excessive job demands combined with insufficient organizational support.
Healthcare systems have responded by expanding virtual nursing — a model accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic in which remote nurses participate in team-based care via telehealth. Today, 43% of U.S. hospitals use some form of virtual nursing. The assumption is that offloading certain tasks to remote nurses reduces pressure on bedside staff — but that assumption has never been rigorously tested.
“While telehealth has accelerated the growth of virtual nursing as a response to nursing workforce shortages, we still lack rigorous evidence on how these models affect patient, nurse, and health system outcomes,” Khairat said.
What the Study Will Actually Measure
The research team will conduct a multi-site natural experiment across nine diverse hospitals, generating real-world evidence on how virtual nursing affects the day-to-day demands placed on bedside nurses. The study uses a mixed-methods design grounded in the Job Demands-Resources framework.
Three specific research aims will guide the work:
By combining EHR data, physiologic measurements, and qualitative design methods, the team aims to produce findings that are both scientifically rigorous and directly actionable for hospital administrators.
Grounded in Real Hospital Workflows
A core strength of the project is its embedded partnership with UNC Health, whose clinical staff have hands-on experience implementing virtual nursing. Prior collaboration has already mapped the structure, workflows, and operational requirements of virtual care — giving the study a practical foundation and speeding the translation of findings into policy and practice.
“Our team will generate actionable evidence and identify scalable solutions that support a sustainable nursing workforce and strengthen patient care,” Khairat said.
The Research Team
Khairat’s team draws on deep expertise across nursing, public health, and health policy. Key collaborators include:
The nursing workforce shortage is not a natural phenomenon — it is the product of chronic underinvestment in healthcare staffing, working conditions, and systemic support structures. This study represents a meaningful step toward evidence-based solutions, but its findings will only matter if health systems and policymakers are willing to act on them.