Issues in clinical monitoring

Current vital sign (ICU) monitoring practice is: nurse observes and records the value of oxygen saturation, heart rate, … once an hour; build-in monitor alarms used as indicators between observations. Some physicians make minimum use of monitor data, due to the knowledge that different monitors yield unique results or/and a lack of confidence in the meaning of the values. Physicians use global limits, which are difficult to establish using current sampling procedures. This paper investigates two monitors, their similarities, differences, and the importance of these differences on making clinical decisions.