20 YEARS IN PAT I ENT MONI TOR ING
How patient monitoring is transforming care
Phil Stuart-Douek shares his insights into how patient monitoring has transformed care, over the past two decades. He points out that while technology is driving significant innovation, it will never replace highly trained nurses and it shouldn’t be used to plug resourcing gaps.
The technology that’s now available for monitoring patients – both within a clinical environment and outside of it – is transforming how care is delivered and improving outcomes for patients. Without question, the technology, and the data insight it can provide, is one of the most significant and positive changes to happen to healthcare in the last two decades. It’s an evolution I’ve seen through my 30 years as a registered nurse and a brilliant example of how far patient monitoring technology has developed within the evolution of the nurse call system. It’s no longer just a button for the patient to get the attention of a nurse. Instead, it now works much harder. It’s smart, with the ability to interact with other medical devices and software. It provides the nurse with a vital tool to help closely monitor a patient and can support workflow management. The technology can interact with all the medical devices connected to the patient – such as a ventilator or IV drip. If, for example, a patient’s blood pressure suddenly spikes, an alarm can be raised to alert the medical team via a handheld device, or through a smartphone iOS or Android App. Effectively, the technology is providing nurses with extra ‘eyes and ears’ on their patients – something acutely
needed as many hospitals move away from Nightingale-style wards.
At the bedside, a nurse can update the patient’s record from a handheld device in near real time. It means nurse administration time can be reduced significantly. There are no lost forms, no requirement for deciphering someone’s handwriting and no delay in clinical information being shared. There is also the bonus of being able to potentially save the NHS significant costs in
Accelerated by the pandemic, remote patient monitoring technology is changing not only how care can be delivered but where. It’s an exciting technological development, providing the opportunity to not only free up capacity within hospitals but, more importantly, enabling the possibility for much earlier intervention.
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removing the need for paper-based records to be archived. Prompts to remind nurses of routine tasks can also be automated. The clinician can create an alert for tasks, such as dispensing medication, or when a patient needs to be turned to prevent pressure sores, while at the patient’s side. This takes the burden away from nurses and ensures patient care is mapped. Accelerated by the pandemic, remote patient monitoring technology is changing not only how care can be delivered but where. It’s an exciting technological development, providing the opportunity to not only free up capacity within hospitals but, more importantly, enabling the possibility for much earlier intervention. As a volunteer community first responder with the Welsh Ambulance Service, I’ve seen first-hand the impact remote monitoring can have. Previously, if a patient wasn’t in crisis, but there was the smallest chance that could change, they would be admitted into hospital to be monitored closely. Now, with remote technology, the patient can
NOVEMBER 2022
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