Process for monitoring telemetry at your hospital

[Marchc7]

We are in the process of switching our vendor for telemetry at the hospital I work for and are therefore reviewing all our current processes. Questions:

At your institution, who monitors off-unit patients? (Our Med/Surg cardiac unit monitors the whole hospital minus ER, ICU, and L&D currently)

Who reads the strips and is there a verification process if it is not a RN?

Who monitors patients in the ED?

thanks!!!

[emtb2rn, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

ED tele monitoring is done by the nurses & docs. We have 2 central stations which show all bed monitors & tele-packs.

[kiszi, RN]

I work in a 95 bed hospital. A tele tech "watches" all the tracings but only documents the med-surg strips. ED, ICU, and L&D nurses are responsible for their patients' monitors. When a pt is off the floor, the nurse transporting the patient watches their monitor (I work ICU, so our patients always travel with an RN).

[Bruce_Wayne, ASN, RN]

Our monitor techs are RNs or LPNs with special ekg training. Our portable tele monitors work in all departments so there is no "off unit" considerations. The patients primary RN is responsible for checking the accuracy of the strips and that is part of the chart check.

ER and ICU patients are not monitored by the monitor techs but instead by their primary RN. Monitor techs and er and Icu nurses must take a yearly competency ekg class and test.

The monitor techs are required to take all breaks including a 30 minute lunch break and 2 fiveteen minute paid breaks outside of the monitor room. This is to prevent fatigue and eye strain and is not considered optional at my facility.

[Marchc7]

Thanks!

[Marchc7]

When your tele techs document the med/Surg strips- are they verified by an RN before going on the chart?

[RainMom]

Telemetry pts on the floors are monitored by ICU at my facility. The nurse watching tele usually does not have an assigned ICU pt or is assigned the "easiest" pt in the unit. They may act as a float in the unit as well, especially if the volume of tele is low.

[jotec]

Our tele tech measure and label the strips and it is then verified by an RN. Although it must be said the tele techs know there rhythms better the most the RNs. They monitor primarly pcu and medical floors, Around 34 patients each. they went from phillips to GE and they hate the GE system.

[Marchc7]

Thanks!