From their station on the second floor of Andalusia Regional Hospital, nurses can simultaneously monitor the vital signs of 20 patients, and chart changes in those vitals for better analysis of their conditions.

The continuous monitoring is possible through the hospital’s new ViSi® Mobile Systm.

The Visi is the first body-worn monitor able to non-invasively measure all core vital signs. In addition to continuous cuffless non-invasive blood pressure (cNIBP) technology, it also monitors heart or pulse rate, heart rhythm, blood oxygenation, respiration rate, and skin temperature.

“If anything changes significantly, we can intervene much quicker,” CEO John Yanes said.

The monitors are worn on the wrist, and patients can wear them to physical therapy or in the shower and continue to be monitored, he said.

The staff also can determine if a patient is lying down, sitting or standing, which can help prevent falls.

ARH is the first hospital within the LifePoint system outside of the pilot hospital to use the system.

“We were at a leadership meeting within LifePoint when we heard about ViSi,” Yanes said. “Melissa Davis put her hand up, and said, ‘hey, we want that.’ We were persistent and we got it.”

Davis, who is the local hospital’s chief clinical officer, said the nursing staff loves the system, which already has alerted them several times to situations which could have become more serious. When a patient’s vital signs move beyond selected ranges, the system’s alarm system will warn clinicians, so appropriate interventions can be taken.

The non-invasive monitoring also means nurses wake patients up fewer times at night.

The data collected by the ViSi system can also immediately be stored electronically for future reference, Yanes said.