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Getting the most out of remote telemetry monitoring

HCPro's Weekly Update on the ANCC Magnet Recognition Program®*, December 26, 2006

Fairview Hospital, a 25-bed critical access hospital in Great Barrington, MA, can have four telemetry patients on the medical-surgical floor, thanks to beepers and a great relationship with the cardiac care unit (CCU). The telemetry nurse on the medical-surgical unit has a beeper, and the patient's cardiac rhythms are displayed on the central monitor in the CCU, which is managed by the CCU nurse. If the rhythm changes, the telemetry nurse is beeped, signaling him or her to proceed directly to the patient's bedside, and then to the CCU to review the strips with the CCU nurse. The CCU and the medical-surgical floor are located next to one another, making it faster to get from the patient to the CCU.

Fairview Hospital requires all nurses who have worked at the facility for a year to complete ACLS training and pass an arrhythmia course to add to their knowledge base. Although it was a steep learning curve and initially met with resistance, Doreen Hutchinson, BSN, MBA, CNAA, CNE, vice president, operations, says she has seen positive results from increasing the skills of their staff nurses. The monitoring capacity has been maximized, and it has bonded the nurses together in a collegial way. Fairview Hospital is in the beginning stages of the journey to ANCC Magnet Recognition Program® status.

Source: Doreen Hutchinson

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