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PATIENT MONITORING
Author(s) -
Morton Anthony
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.111
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1445-2197
pISSN - 0004-8682
DOI - 10.1111/j.1445-2197.1976.tb03238.x
Subject(s) - medicine , critically ill , intensive care medicine , intensive care , medical emergency
Optimum results are obtained in the care of the critically ill patient if efforts are directed to maintaining the internal environment in a state as near normal as possible. This cannot be done without the use of basic monitoring procedures. Complex investigations may have a legitimate and necessary role as research tools. There is, however, a real risk of complex procedures becoming an end in themselves in general intensive therapy units, where they are apt to distract overworked nurses and medical attendants f r o m the care of their patients. It is important, therefore, for clearcut indications f o r various monitoring procedures to be defined, and in this paper an attempt has been made to outline a logical approach to the monitoring of critical 131 ill general surgical patients admitted to intensive therapy units.