Did you know that there's actually an A to Z list of infectious diseases that exist? There are around 3.4 million emergency department visits with infectious and parasitic diseases with at least 500,000 admitted. [1] Nurses spend a lot of time up close and personal with their patients, performing high-risk activities. Because of the nature of their work, they are more likely to contract infectious infections. Experts in public health are now balancing the need to keep nurses on the front lines with the need to keep medical workers from becoming patients themselves; this is where wireless patient monitoring technologies come in.
The Need for Wireless Patient Monitoring Systems
Infectious disorders with a large worldwide impact, such as sepsis, malaria, dengue fever, and emerging viruses, typically cause fever and varying degrees of systemic involvement as a result of an underlying inflammatory process. Although symptoms vary, severe disease can appear in common physiological derangements such as hemodynamic shock or hypoxia, requiring organ support measures administered in intensive care settings. [3]
A system capable of detecting early physiological derangements in failing patients is required for the efficient use of these resources. However, adopting an efficient, timely patient warning system in many acute healthcare settings, particularly in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), can be difficult. Infrastructure constraints, clinical staffing shortages, high illness prevalence, and workload considerations can all reduce healthcare efficacy. [2]
Role of Wireless Patient Monitoring Systems in Infectious Diseases
Continuous patient physiological monitoring entails a variety of invasive and non-invasive technologies for assessing parameters such as pulse, electrocardiography, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, and respiration rate. Advances in electrical hardware design and data processing approaches have enabled technologies capable of continuously and minimally invasively sensing numerous elements of physiology. Devices that may be worn on the body's surface for extended periods of time show great promise, especially for infectious diseases. [3]
Wireless patient monitoring has emerged as a promising approach to managing infectious diseases. By providing real-time insights into patients' physiological states, wireless patient monitoring systems can facilitate early detection of illness and provide critical alerts in the event of a health emergency.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of utilizing and implementing our digital infrastructure for remote patient monitoring. The need for more rigorous sickness identification and monitoring of individual and community health, which wearable sensors could definitely assist with.
Reliable Option for Wireless Patient Monitoring Systems
Several large hospitals have already adopted the ViSi Mobile as their wireless patient monitoring system. Sotera Wireless is able to deploy individual, closed-ended ViSi Mobile System kits, each of which supports 10 patient beds and has its own private WiFi network and remote patient viewer.
Several perks include:
- Providing continuous monitoring for infectious diseases, including primary vital signs such as blood oxygenation, respiration rate, and body temperature, as well as secondary vital signs such as cardiac outputs (heart rate, pulse rate, and ECG) and blood pressure.
- To eliminate cross-infections, restrict interactions between patients and clinicians through remote monitoring. To date, a number of clinicians have been confirmed to be infected by patients. Reduce the number of times clinicians enter and exit quarantine wards, as well as the number of times they put on, scrub/clean, and remove protective clothing.
- During their (forced) extended stays quarantined patients can roam freely without being tied to standard huge vital sign monitoring equipment on the bed.
- Allow for less disruption while the patient rests and recovers from their infection.
- Reduces implementation time and is the appropriate monitor for usage in emergency scenarios.
Learn more about how ViSi Mobile can be used in healthcare facilities not only to increase patient satisfaction and safety but also to increase efficiency and reduce staff exposure.
Sources:
- https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/infectious-disease.htm
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6111409/
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1201971220303933