What is a Telemetry Unit?

A telemetry unit is a unit in a hospital where patients are under continuous electronic monitoring. Telemetry, the practice of sending electronic signals from one place to another, is a tremendously useful tool in hospitals, as it allows hospital personnel to monitor heart rate, heart rhythm, breathing, and other things both by the patient's bed and at a remote location like a nursing station. Many major hospitals have telemetry units available for patients who need them, and in an event that a patient needs such monitoring and a hospital cannot provide it, he or she can be transferred.

Patients are admitted to a telemetry unit when a doctor feels that they could benefit from intensive monitoring. Telemetry is often recommended after a heart attack, or when a patient is seriously ill or at risk of developing complications. The unit may have private or shared rooms, and the nursing staff is usually highly trained so that they can respond to emergent medical problems quickly and confidently.

Using remote telemetry, a single nurse can monitor all of the patients in the unit from the nursing station. The nurse can summon additional staff as needed, and share monitoring duties with other staffers. Nurses can also monitor patients at their bedsides, looking at the telemetry readouts on bedside monitors while assessing patients. The unit may have additional facilities which are designed to enable nurses and hospital staff to respond quickly to emergency.

Another advantage to a telemetry unit is that hospital personnel can detect emergent medical issues before they become a problem with remote monitoring. Changes in the vital signs being monitored can indicate that a patient is about to experience a problem, and a nurse can quickly correct the issue before it endangers the patient. For this reason, telemetry is sometimes used to monitor patients who appear to be stable, but are at risk of complications, such as post-surgical patients.

Sleep clinics and clinics which study neurological issues may also utilize a telemetry unit. The ability to monitor patients over an extended period allows care providers offering treatment to learn more about patients, and the remote capability ensures that patients are not disturbed. People who suffer from sleep disorders, epilepsy, and certain other conditions can benefit from some time in a telemetry unit to learn more about their conditions, the triggers which provoke them, and medications or techniques which could be used to manage their conditions.