Technology is increasingly influencing health care. There are numerous wearable devices available, such as patches, smart watches, and even tattoos, that can record vital signs such as heart rate (HR), respiratory rate, oxygen saturation (SpO2), and blood pressure (BP). These devices are becoming more accurate and reliable, smaller and more user-friendly than current hospital monitoring devices. This could improve patients' mobility and recovery during their stay.
Furthermore, the devices can improve health outcomes and be used as a diagnostic tool to detect various diseases or clinical deterioration during admission.
Overview: Vital Signs Monitoring
Regular vital signs monitoring is a common inpatient care strategy that attempts to assist in the early detection of abnormal physiological parameters in patients who are deteriorating.
Vital sign abnormalities are a known predictor of cardiac and respiratory arrest, and early detection of deterioration has been demonstrated to enhance patient outcomes such as mortality and quality of life.
Traditional monitors are used to display your heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature. More modern models can also tell you how much oxygen your blood is carrying and how quickly you're breathing. Some can even display the amount of strain on your head or the amount of carbon dioxide you're expending. If any of your vital indicators fall below safe levels, the monitor will produce particular sounds.
The Advent of Wearable Devices for Vital Signs Monitoring
Until recently, the majority of outpatient vital signs monitoring was limited to ECG monitoring with Holter devices. For almost 40 years, these monitors have been utilized as a non-invasive means of continually monitoring heart rate and ECG for fixed periods of time. Holter monitors do not support real-time monitoring of vital indicators such as oxygen saturation, blood pressure, respiratory rate, and temperature.
Recent advancements in battery technology and wireless data transfer, as well as the introduction of smartphones, have heralded advancements in wearable monitors. Wearable monitors with many sensors, cognitive processing, and alerts to support medical decisions have been created over the last 15 years.
The ability to develop more dependable and adaptable wearables is made possible by the technological revolution in the miniaturization of electronic devices, which is enabling a global shift in the approach to health monitoring.
As the overall healthcare burden rises and hospital beds become scarce, resulting in accelerated discharges, there is growing interest in the use of wireless monitoring in the outpatient setting. These wearables have demonstrated reasonable accuracy and the potential to improve patient outcomes while lowering costs.
Making the Switch: Continuous Wireless Wearable Devices
Nurses typically monitor patients' vital signs on general wards on a regular basis, primarily during the day. As a result, clinical deterioration between two subsequent measurements may not always be detected, resulting in unexpected admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), which is associated with a longer hospital stay, a higher mortality rate, and higher costs. Additionally, clinical deterioration may go undetected during the night because there are fewer medical personnel available.
Patients can be monitored more frequently or continuously with wearable devices. This results in more information about a patient's health status, especially during off-hours when patients are less frequently seen by nurses.
Clinical deterioration can also be detected earlier by implementing continuous monitoring, especially since changes in vital signs are frequently present 8 to 24 hours before a life-threatening event occurs.
Long-term benefits of wearable device-based continuous monitoring include reduced nurse workload, improved patient comfort due to fewer frequencies of measuring vital signs, and safe patient transport between wards.
Learn more about continuous wireless wearable devices.
