Bedside Monitors
Cardiac Monitor
• ECG • Respiratory rate • Blood pressure • Body temperature • Arterial hemoglobin oxygen saturation • Intracranial pressure • Airway gas concentrations • Mixed venous oxygenation • End-tidal carbon dioxide • Cardiac output
This continuous monitoring is a valuable tool that provides information about the physiological condition of the patient to the nursing and medical staff. With this information, the medical staff can evaluate a patient’s condition and decide the best treatment.
Monitors can be modular, configured or both. The configured monitors have all of their capabilities built-in, and modular systems have individual modules for each monitoring feature or group of features. These modules can be used in a variety of combinations with any bedside monitor or be interchanged with another or several monitors. In some cases, the modules that are frequently used such as ECG are configured to the monitor, and other monitoring capabilities can be added.
Many bedside physiological monitors have a central station that has a monitor that displays ECG waveforms and other information for any bedside monitor that is in the system. These central systems must be able to display the data from one patient without disrupting the data from any other patient on the system. They may also be equipped with alarms that connect to the bedside monitor. The alarms may alert the medical staff that the patient has exceeded certain limits, and alarms may be used to warn that the system’s communication is faulty.
These systems are available as hardwired with cables or radio waves/radio-frequency wireless. Hardwired systems provide more reliable communication and can be moved to any bedside that has a connection. However, in some facilities, hardwiring is not cost-effective or feasible, so a wireless system is a good alternative. These systems can be moved to any bedside that is within transmission range. As long as the patient is within the range, the transmission of that patient’s data in not disrupted. Today, bedside monitors have screens where the patient can see the health care provider, and the nurse or doctor can see the patient.
The most common problems with bedside monitors are poor electrode preparation and attachment. The electrodes need to be repositioned on a regular basis to avoid skin irritation and burns, especially the ones with heating elements in the sensors. Other problems are incompatible software or hardware or improper installation and computer viruses.
Bedside monitors require constant checking to make sure the cables are not cracked or broken. The cable should be replaced as soon as there is a problem or on a regular schedule. The main reasons bedside monitors have been recalled are:
• Loss of patient alarms • Parameter errors • Misleading alarms
No matter how efficient the bedside monitors are, the medical staff needs to personally regularly check the patient’s condition.
About the Author
Weston Barnes is a write and an avid reader. When he's not writing about business, marketing, health, pets, or relationships, he's immersed in his latest book. When Weston was little, he would have to sneak a book light into his room so he could read until the wee hours of the night.
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