General Floor

Patient safety is the number one goal for clinicians on the General Floor who are treating patients with opioid therapies such as patient controlled analgesia (PCA) and other continuous narcotic therapies.

Since these therapies may have an adverse effect on a patient’s breathing, it is critical to monitor a patient’s adequacy of ventilation to avoid a potential respiratory crisis.

Microstream Capnography monitors adequacy of ventilation regardless of patient type, providing an accurate, reliable, and easy-to-use assessment of a patient’s breathing.
Only Microstream has Smart Capnography that can reduce clinically insignificant alarms* and provide clinical utility for improved patient safety.
Microstream® Capnography features an innovative interface that samples etCO₂ from the nose and mouth, with the option of delivering supplemental oxygen, producing crisp, accurate waveforms.

* a clinically insignificant alarm is defined as a respiration rate alarm lasting continuously for less than 30 seconds or less than 45 seconds over a period of 60 seconds when compared to the previous respiration rate algorithm

Studies show the growing clinical importance of capnography

Reasons for adopting Capnography on the General Floor

Capnography provides critical patient safety information for the General Floor nurse or respiratory therapist with an early indication of hypoventilation or respiratory distress.
Easy-to-use – simply turn on the monitor, attach the sampling line, and you’re ready to use.
A Veterans Health Administration root-cause analysis revealed that integrated etCO₂ could have prevented more than 60 percent of adverse events related to PCA pumps at VHA hospitals related to PCA pumps.¹ The Joint Commission and ASA recommend monitoring adequacy of ventilation,²,³ as provided by Microstream Capnography.
Multiple studies have established that capnography detects respiratory changes, especially respiratory distress, minutes before SpO₂ and more effectively than visual observation.^4,5

¹ Infusing Patients Safely, Bryanne M. Patail, BS, MLS, FACCE. AAMI/FDA Infusion Device Summit, page 12. October 5, 2010.

² Joint Commission Accreditation Program: Hospital Chapter: Provision of Care, Treatment, and Services, 2008; The Administration of Moderate or Deep Sedation or Anesthesia.

³ ASA: Practice Guidelines for the Prevention, Detection, and Management of Respiratory Depression Associated with Neuraxial Opioid Administration; Anesthesiology 2009; 110:1–1.

⁴ Capnographic Monitoring of Respiratory Activity Improves Safety of Sedation for Endoscopic Cholangiopancreatography and Ultrasonography. Qadeer, Vargo et al. Gastroenterology; 136: 1568-1576.

⁵ Capnography is superior to pulse oximetry for the detection of respiratory depression during colonoscopy. Cacho G et al. Revista Espanola De Enfermedades Digestivas. February2010; 02(2), 86-89.