International journal of nursing studies
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Continuous pulse oximetry monitoring is recommended to improve safety during postoperative opioid use, however concerns with monitoring on general care units remain, given potential system barriers to alarm transmission, recognition, and nursing response. ⋯ One-third of pulse oximetry alarm notifications were for clinically relevant oxygen desaturation, facilitating timely nursing response and intervention for most patients. Unit staffing and false alarm frequency were not associated with response time, suggesting a high level of attention on this unit. The nature and degree of missed alarm events suggests patient safety concerns posed by hospital-level transmission systems warranting further strategies to ensure monitoring safety.