Webinar: Leverage Remote Patient Observation Across Your Organization

Hospitals have found that by using MedSitter they can prevent many adverse events, which ultimately save time and money.

At the end of May, Nicole Shields, RN, hosted an educational webinar on leveraging remote patient observation across your organization. Nicole is the Director of Clinical Programs at MedSitter and has more than 20 years of experience in healthcare, and 14 years as a nurse.

The presentation covered how MedSitter's technology unburdens nursing departments and how remote patient observation via telemedicine carts helps to keep patients safe.

Remote patient observation allows one observer to watch over multiple patients at one time via a telehealth cart in the patient's room. Designed to mimic 1:1 in-room observation, the technology unburdens nursing departments without sacrificing patient safety.

As a nurse, you may feel that you are under a lot of pressure to reduce the number of 1:1 sitters and prevent patient falls. However, hospitals have found that by using MedSitter they can prevent many adverse events, which ultimately saves time and money. So how do hospitals overcome the plateau when only focusing on falls and replacing sitters? They seek out other health saving opportunities, which can be found in many different areas:

Reasons for Observation in Acute Care include, but are not limited to:

• Companionship
• Dementia support
• Dietary restriction compliance
• Post-surgery blood sugar fluctuations

Reasons for Observation in Diagnostic Care include, but are not limited to:

• Reminding patients when it is time to perform self-care tasks
  • Consume oral contrast as a specific time
  • Perform range of motion
  • Use incentive spirometer
• Hallway & Holding
  • For patients who are sometimes unobserved, unfamiliar with their surroundings, and in areas without call light access

Reasons for Observation in the Emergency Department include, but are not limited to:

• Staff safety
• Frequent flyers
• Drug seeking behaviors
• Expedited admission

Reasons for Observation in Sub-Acute Care include, but are not limited to:

• Short-term memory deficit support
• Mobility limitations compliance
• Low suicide risk observation
• Contraband concerns

Nicole also covers more in-depth reasons as to why observation is vital for these departments, as well as how remote patient observation stops patient falls before they happen, and real examples of Good Catches.

If you are interested in viewing this presentation recording, you can do so at this link.

In this presentation, you can expect to learn:

• How observation impacts patient care
• How MedSitter helps to prevent falls
• Reasons to leverage observation by department