Critical pathways in cardiology
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Patients admitted with acute and potential acute coronary syndromes (ACS) frequently required accompaniment by a registered nurse from the emergency department (ED) to inpatient telemetry beds. We tested the hypothesis that telemetry transport monitoring for patients with acute and potential ACS is of limited utility. We conducted a prospective cohort study of patients who were admitted from the ED with acute and potential ACS. ⋯ The total nurse time out of the ED spent transporting was 13.6 minutes (SD 5.2, range 4-40). The routine use of nurses accompanying patients admitted with acute and potential acute coronary syndromes is of limited utility. Patient transportation without nurses may help alleviate ED overcrowding by saving almost 15 minutes of nursing time currently being used for transport without measurable benefit.