Continuous monitoring of SpO2 and EtCO2 could help nurses in non-critical care areas identify decompensating patient conditions and intervene sooner to save lives.
The suppression of ventilation and reduced airway protection can leave postoperative patients vulnerable to respiratory failure from “opiate-induced” or “immobility-induced” respiratory depression. Continuous capnography monitoring provides instantaneous respiratory status to help clinicians identify and prevent complications.
Patient care requires continuous cognitive shifting and stacking to identify and prioritize clinical tasks. Processing the vast volume of information alone is stressful, then consider that shifting and stacking can potentially distract a clinician from noticing a warning sign of patient deterioration. The best result would be a slight delay in the delivery of needed care, while the worst result would be A Nurse’s Greatest Fear.
Postoperative patients are predisposed to episodes of respiratory depression, which if not detected and treated can lead to apnea, anoxic brain injury, cardiac arrest, and death. By continuously monitoring the patient’s end-tidal carbon dioxide (EtCO2), respiratory rate (RR) and fractional inspired CO2 (FiCO2) through capnography, clinicians can more accurately assess ventilation adequacy and predict the onset of declining cardiovascular and respiratory conditions.
Edge computing allows you to create a secure “mini network” of a patient’s bedside medical devices, separate from the hospital’s main network. The edge computing device provides added security by controlling data exchange at the application level, rather than the network level.
Medical devices – especially connected ones – help with identifying and predicting patient deterioration. The insights they provide need to be readily accessible at the point of care and at the moment of care. These are some of the benefits edge computing delivers.