BACKGROUND: Virtual care is increasingly used to improve access to primary care. However, the roles of primary care nurses (ie, nurse practitioners [NPs], registered nurses [RNs], licensed practical nurses [LPNs]) in virtual care delivery are not clearly defined. A better understanding of these roles can improve their integration and optimization in virtual primary care delivery and the availability and quality of virtual primary care.
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this scoping review was to identify and map the international literature on nurses' roles in virtual care delivery in primary care.
METHODS: Following the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology, we searched academic databases for published literature and webpages for gray literature sources. We included studies that described the roles of nurses (NPs, RNs, LPNs) in providing virtual primary care. We excluded studies that focused on nurses' use of digital technologies without nurse-patient interaction.
RESULTS: After screening potential sources, we included 34 sources from countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, Australia, and Sweden. Most were specific to RNs (n = 12) or did not specify a regulatory designation (n = 12). Primary care nurse roles in virtual care were mostly related to care coordination, chronic disease management, and triage and assessment using various modalities (eg, telephone and video). Many factors influenced nurses' roles in virtual care, such as patient/nurse experiences, training/support, access to resources/equipment, and ethical/privacy concerns.
CONCLUSIONS: Nurses are well-positioned to provide virtual care based on their diverse roles across primary care settings; however, their roles could be better optimized to improve primary care access and quality.