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New technology helps patients recover post-ICU

Staff Development Weekly: Insight on Evidence-Based Practice in Education, March 6, 2008

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An Indiana organization has developed new technology that helps nurses keep patients stable when they are transferred from the intensive care unit into the next level of care, the step-down unit.

The new system, called Visensia, was developed by OBS Medical in Carmel, IN. The system monitors five vital signs-respiration rate, heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, and body temperature-and alerts the nurse when one of the signs is not normal. Any signs of instability are thus noted early on, which is especially relevant in a step-down unit, since about 25% of patients will again become unstable at this level of care.

The new technology helps nurses monitor patients in a unit that typically has fewer nurses to patients than an ICU (typically 1-to-4 or 1-to-6 in step down units whereas ICUs are often 1-to-1 or 1-to-2. In addition, patients in ICUs are often watched by specialists in addition to their nurses; this is not often the case in a step-down unit.

Source: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Other articles of interest:

New technology at North Carolina hospital improves ICU care

Arizona hospital to bring in evidence-based design, technology

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