The Importance of Electrolyte Management in Rural Tele-Intensive Care - Abstract
Our tele-intensivist program has been recognized for uniquely providing supervision of seriously ill hospitalized patients for nearly nine years to one of the most sparsely populated six-state region of the North Central United States. We are currently monitoring 133 patients in thirty-three hospitals. A staff of one intensivist, two critical care nurses, and an information technician see on average 22.1 admissions per day and perform 925 interventions per month. The third most numerous interventions classified as major by the intensivist was that of severe electrolyte disturbances requiring correction. This was considered as major a problem as diagnosing and managing hypotension and respiratory failure which were the top two most common interventions.For those considered intermediate or minor to the care plan of the patient, electrolyte correction was second to communication with families and providers. Discussed in this report will be a review of recent literature suggesting the importance to prognosis and outcomes of critically ill patients of correction of such electrolyte disturbances. We conclude that these high numbers of successful interventions which contributes to a high throughput of patients monitored each day reflects the welcome acceptance of teleintensive care to rural hospitals.