The factors that affect the frequency of vital sign monitoring in the emergency department.
J Emerg Nurs
; 40(1): 27-35, 2014 Jan.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-23099016
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
Vital signs are an important component of the nursing assessment and are used as early warning signs of changes in a patient's condition; however, little research has been conducted to determine how often vital signs are monitored in the emergency department. Additionally, it has not been determined what personal, social, and environmental factors affect the frequency of vital sign monitoring. The purpose of this study was to examine what factors may influence the time between recording vital signs in the emergency department.METHODS:
We performed a descriptive, retrospective chart review of 202 randomly selected adult ED patients' charts from representative times to capture a variety of ED levels of occupancy in an urban, Midwestern, teaching hospital. Descriptive and hierarchical regression analyses were used.RESULTS:
The strongest predictor of the increased time between vital signs from the personal health factors was lower patient acuity (Emergency Severity Index). This relationship remained strong even when social factors and environmental factors were included. Increased length of stay and fewer routes of medications also had significant relationships to the increased time between vital sign monitoring.DISCUSSION:
These findings are clinically important because greater time between vital sign recordings can lead to errors of omission by not detecting changes in vital signs that could reveal changes in the patient's condition. The findings of this study provide direction for future research focusing on determining whether higher frequency of vital signs surveillance contributes to higher quality care and linking quality of care to missing vital signs/inadequate monitoring.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Enfermagem em Emergência
/
Serviço Hospitalar de Emergência
/
Sinais Vitais
/
Gravidade do Paciente
Tipo de estudo:
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Aged
/
Aged80
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
País como assunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2014
Tipo de documento:
Article