Developing a vital sign alert system

Am J Nurs. 2013 Aug;113(8):36-44; quiz 46, 45. doi: 10.1097/01.NAJ.0000432962.33881.65.

Abstract

This article describes the implementation of a nurse-designed, automated system for enhancing patient monitoring on medical-surgical and step-down nursing units. The system, which is not derived from any of the early warning scoring systems described in nursing literature, was developed and put into place at a large tertiary hospital in eastern Virginia and found to substantially reduce out-of-unit codes without increasing nurses' workload.

MeSH terms

  • Computers, Handheld
  • Decision Making, Computer-Assisted*
  • Decision Support Systems, Clinical / organization & administration*
  • Heart Arrest / prevention & control*
  • Humans
  • Monitoring, Physiologic / instrumentation
  • Monitoring, Physiologic / methods*
  • Pilot Projects
  • Software Design
  • Tertiary Care Centers
  • Virginia
  • Vital Signs*