Surveillance Monitoring on General Wards

The investigators placed a wired monitoring system (pulse oximetry, heart rate and respiratory rate) on every patient who arrived on a subject general post surgical ward who assented to wear the system. this was the Masimo PSNET system using the Radical 87 monitor and an acoustic respiratory sensor along with a Masimo pulse oximetry probe. Patients were monitored for a minimum of 48 hrs. Heart Rate (HR) parameters were set between 45-130, Respiratory rate was set between 6-20 and pulse oximetrry was 85-100%. Nurses documented in the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) any alarms they responded to as to whether they were false (vital sign not out of range when rechecked) or true and what the response was. Responses ranged from nurse managed to notification of primary service to Rapid Response Activation to Code team activation as well as transfer to a higher level of care (operating room or Intensive Care Unit (ICU)/IMC. Patient and Nursing satisfaction surveys were collected.

Inclusion criteria

• all post-surgical patients admitted to a post-operative general hospital ward

Exclusion criteria

• inability to understand English or provide verbal consent for data analysis