Definitive Care Unit

I wish it were a place you could go that was "Definitive" vs. AIDET, EXCEL, Magnet, alas, you are generally correct:crying2::

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-definitive-observation-unit.htm

At my hospital the offical name for our unit is "Definitive Observation" but we all call it "Telemetry". All of our patients are on heart monitors. Basically a stepdown from ICU and more critical than med/surg. We get "stable" patients with chest pain, CVA/TIA, arrythmias, COPD, PE's etc. We have a whole section of rooms for post CABG's after they have left the ICU. We also get pre/post op patients that are high risk, as well as med/surg patients whose BP can not be controled and pretty much anything else else in between. Hope this helps :)

Why the name "definitive?" Are the other units just guessing? OK, so that was kinda lame...but, really, why "definitive?"

Its wonderful the names our superiors come up with isn't it . Sorry I know that is not a definitive opinion ;-).

We have Definitive Observation Unit/DOU separate from the telemetry floor, although all DOU patients are also on telemetry. DOU patients are higher acuity than the tele patients, so the nurse:patient ratio is different.

Nurses check the patients every FOUR hours?????

Why bother, if they're hooked up to tele? Just use a ping pong paddle to whack their meds to them....

Geez- basic med surg gets the nurse in there more often than that.....(this info from info link above).

Nurses check the patients every FOUR hours?????

Why bother, if they're hooked up to tele? Just use a ping pong paddle to whack their meds to them....

Geez- basic med surg gets the nurse in there more often than that.....(this info from info link above).

HAH! We document about our patient's cardiac activity every four hours, but we have to do hourly rounding. Looks like Wisegeek (website) isn't so wise.