How To Monitor Patients Effectively In A Home ICU

Thanks to medical and technological advancements, it is possible to set up an ICU at home. However, it is important to know how the setup operates before approaching healthcare professionals for the same.

From finding the right spot in your house to creating an ICU setup to monitoring the patient with suitable equipment, a lot of thought and preparation goes into bringing an ICU home. Once a patient is admitted to a home-based ICU, they should be constantly monitored. As opposed to the conventional hospital ICUs, such setups allow doctors and their assistants to stay with the patient for a longer period. Constant and careful monitoring increases recovery speed and improves critical care.

Here are a few aspects every healthcare professional keeps in mind to monitoring patients in home ICU setups:

Monitoring The Vitals

It is important to track a patient’s vitals throughout their ICU journey. Any inconsistencies here should be tackled quickly and effectively. When you set up an ICU setup at home, healthcare professionals will equip the space with equipment to track a patient’s vital signs like blood pressure, blood oxygen, heart rate, and more.

Here are a few common tools every home-based ICU should have to monitor vitals:

• ECG to monitor the patient’s heart rate and rhythm
• Pulse oximeter to measure oxygen saturation in the patient’s body
• Blood pressure monitor to ensure that their blood pressure remains steady
• Capnography monitors to measure the patient’s carbon dioxide levels

Telemedicine Tools

Telemedicine allows nurses and caregivers to connect with doctors while looking after a patient in a home-based ICU. Modern telemedicine devices and software tools facilitate real-time patient monitoring. Doctors can check a patient’s vitals without being present in the ICU at home.

The nursing staff present with the patient can use telemedicine tools for video conferencing, sharing reports, receiving advice, and conducting real-time diagnoses. They are also useful in keeping the patient safe until they reach a hospital in the case of a medical emergency.

Must Read: How To Prepare Your Home For ICU-level Care

Respiratory Support Monitoring

In most ICU cases, patients are on respiratory support. If a patient is on a ventilator, healthcare professionals constantly check the device for oxygen percentage, respiratory rate, and other measures. These devices are also equipped with alarms that notify the nursing staff if there is any change in the patient’s respiratory condition.

Patients admitted to an ICU setup may experience dryness in their airways. Doctors prevent this by using humidifiers in the respiratory monitoring systems. They also keep checking the patient’s airways for unwanted obstructions. If the patient is at minimal consciousness, they may not realize such obstructions, making them vulnerable.

Tracking Fluid And Nutrition

An ICU patient needs proper nutrition to stay healthy and fight their health complications bravely. Medical experts check the IV lines regularly to ensure that the patient receives their fluids properly. This also confirms proper medicine dosage.

If normal feeding is not possible and the patient receives their nutrition through a tube, caregivers check the infusion rates and any signs of blockage regularly.

Continuous Medication Management

Doctors and their assistants often use medication pumps to ensure accurate dosing for a home ICU patient. Such devices are useful especially if the patient needs pain medications or antibiotics.

Depending on the patient’s illness and ongoing health status, the caregivers will prepare and maintain a chart to ensure seamless medication management.

Focus On Neurological Sites

A patient may or may not remain fully conscious while being admitted to a home-based ICU. Doctors use suitable home ICU equipment to measure the activities in the patient’s neurological sites.

For example, a GCS (Glasgow Coma Scale) is used to measure the consciousness levels of an ICU patient. If the patient is vulnerable to seizures, the caregivers also use seizure-monitoring tools to control complications.

Injury Prevention

When a patient is already struggling with a serious health issue, the last thing you would want is for them to suffer additional injuries. The nursing staff operating in a home-based ICU ensures injury prevention by assessing the patient’s skin regularly. Special attention is paid to the skin areas prone to sores. If the patient’s mobility is strictly restricted, the ICU setup will also have a pressure-relieving mattress to avoid bedsores.

Infection Control

While home-based ICU setups are much safer for patients regarding infections, it is never a good idea to take any chances. Doctors and their assistants take all possible measures to practice complete hygiene and use only sanitized equipment. The patient’s family members are advised to maintain a clean and healthy environment, too. In the case of surgical wounds, healthcare professionals monitor the sites to detect infections (if any) early.

Pain Management

Doctors and nurses use pain scales to measure the pain and discomfort a patient experiences while being treated in a home ICU. If the pain becomes too high or unbearable, they adjust the medications to relieve the patient of the pain.

Moreover, the healthcare professionals keep the surroundings clean, comfortable, and noise-free to provide the utmost comfort to the ICU patient. Being home, they are often much more comfortable than they would be at a hospital.

Must Read: ICU Workflow Optimization: Strategies To Improve Patient Care

Following Emergency Protocols

Doctors and caregivers treating an ICU patient follow specific emergency protocols while monitoring their patients. From setting emergency alarms and hiring trained caregivers to keep emergency contacts handy, they are always prepared to tackle emergencies of all kinds until the patient recovers.

Have The Health Of Your Loved Ones Monitored Steadily With Docville’s ICU At Home Services

Docville’s ICU at home services are dedicated to helping your loved ones recover in a comfortable and familiar environment. We ensure that every patient receives professional critical care from a team of qualified and reputed healthcare professionals. From finding an ideal space in your house to installing the home ICU equipment and monitoring the patient, Docville facilitates the best possible recovery for every patient. Get in touch with us today to learn more about this convenient approach to ICUs.