An Upstream Approach to Selecting Progressive Care Technology

Abstract

(ED) may use other items, such as defibrillators, ventilators, and transport monitors. When selecting these types of products, be sure that PCU, ICU, and ED staff collaborate. Sometimes the team managing a particular patient population selects big-ticket items for that population, such as ventricular assist devices. When staff across a multihospital system use a technology, such as a monitoring system, include a representative from these sites when evaluating equipment. Clinicians who’ll use the equipment will be key members of the evaluation team. Along with nurses, you may include physicians and other health care providers who’ll use a particular technology, such as ST segment monitoring. Their perspective is critical when considering parameters previously not used in your facility, such as continuous ECG monitoring. As exciting as some technologies may appear, such as impedance cardiography or continuous ST segment monitoring, if your physicians and health care The technology pool for the progressive care unit (PCU), like that for the intensive care unit (ICU), is integral to providing top-notch patient care. While many similarities exist among the equipment used in various PCUs, there’s no standard list of what’s needed. In general, patient demographics determine necessary technologies. As described in Part 3 of this 6part series exclusively endorsed by the American Association of CriticalCare Nurses (AACN), types of PCU patients and their needs vary between institutions and may even differ among PCUs within one institution. Technology falls into three categories based on its application: monitoring and assessment, testing, or treatment provision. (See “Examples of PCU technology.”) The PCU’s anticipated patient flow and your administrators’ philosophy of care may also influence technology requirements. For example, do you move patients from unit to unit as their acuity changes? Or do you prefer to keep a patient in one room, and flex the technology and nursing care accordingly? These questions are among those to consider when evaluating PCU technology.