When Doylestown Hospital decided to explore new ways to increase patient safety and satisfaction, we discovered something remarkable: in many ways, it’s all about the bed — the “universal bed,” to be exact.

A universal bed is one a patient can occupy from admission to discharge even if the patient’s condition changes. This reduces or eliminates the need to transfer patients to a different level of care. What makes a bed “universal?” Simply, having it equipped with a wireless telemetry device used to monitor a patient’s heart rate and rhythm. The data is transmitted from the bed to the nursing station, providing real-time monitoring of the patient’s condition.

“Every time you must move a patient to a different room, you interrupt the continuity of care and increase the risk of miscommunication,” says Eleanor Wilson, VP of Patient Services. “That also increases the risk for medication errors.”

And from the patient’s perspective, being transferred from room to room creates a lot of anxiety. “Patients much prefer being admitted to a room and then staying there until they are discharged,” explains Eleanor. “It’s comforting to see the same familiar faces on your care team day after day, and there are even fewer misplaced patient belongings.”

So, for reasons of safety and satisfaction, and in light of another important quality factor — the lack of telemetry beds in medical/surgical units sometimes creates a back-log in admissions from the Emergency Department — Doylestown Hospital began last year to implement the universal bed concept.

A New Standard of Care
Telemetry beds are the standard of care in all hospital intensive care units and units dedicated to cardiac patients. But traditionally, few hospitals have monitored beds available throughout their medical/surgical floors. However, 24 out of 35 beds on Doylestown Hospital’s fourth floor medical/surgical unit are now equipped with cardiac monitors, thanks in part to the generosity of our community. Proceeds from the Bucks County Designer House, the 14th Annual Golf Outing, and the Gala at Spring Oak Farm as well as a generous memorial gift to the hospital were all used to purchase the monitors. During this fiscal year, we plan to convert 24 of the 60 medical/surgical beds on the third floor to universal beds.

Upgrading a hospital bed to a universal bed requires much more than the addition of a cardiac monitor. It requires hours and hours of staff training, because nursing staff on all units must now have the specialized training to care for monitored patients. “We began a small pilot project with just two monitored beds on our fourth floor,” Eleanor says. “The staff stepped right up to the challenge and we received very positive feedback. One of the things they asked for was more telemetry beds.”