• Critical care nurse · Dec 2022

    Improving Patient Safety by Increasing Staff Knowledge of Evidence-Based Pulse Oximetry Practices.

    • Danielle Hlavin and Maureen Varty.
    • Danielle Hlavin is a charge nurse at UCHealth Memorial Hospital Central in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
    • Crit Care Nurse. 2022 Dec 1; 42 (6): e1e6e1-e6.

    BackgroundPulse oximetry is commonly used in critical care settings to monitor oxygenation status and assist with decision-making regarding oxygen therapy. Although it is imperative that nurses follow manufacturer guidelines, off-label use is common and could affect patient safety.ObjectiveTo increase staff members' knowledge and reduce the frequency of off-label pulse oximeter placement in the critical care setting.MethodsA preintervention audit was completed to assess the frequency of off-label use, and a preintervention survey was given to staff. Health care staff in the critical care units received an educational intervention. A postintervention survey for health care staff and a postintervention audit were completed to assess outcomes. With the support of hospital management, 90 ear probes were purchased for critical care settings to address supply barriers to the use of appropriate pulse oximetry sensors.ResultsIn the preintervention audit (508 observations), a finger probe was used off label on the ear in 77 patients (15.2%). In the postintervention audit (365 observations), a finger probe was used on the ear in only 3 patients (0.8%).ConclusionProviding a brief educational session and making ear pulse oximeter probes readily available in the critical care setting increased compliance with manufacturer guidelines and helped ensure safe pulse oximetry monitoring.©2022 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

      Pubmed     Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…

What will the 'Medical Journal of You' look like?

Start your free 21 day trial now.

We guarantee your privacy. Your email address will not be shared.