The Medical Surgical unit is comprised of two units (first and third floor) having a total of 63 beds. The unit is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and is fully staffed with Registered Nurses and Licensed Vocational Nurses at all times.

SCOPE OF CARE:
The Medical Surgical unit provides care for pediatric, adult and geriatric medical/surgical patients who are acutely ill or injured and in varying stages of recuperation from diagnostic, therapeutic or surgical interventions. Med-Surg 3 has 12 remote telemetry beds. Patients with respiratory, medical or surgical diagnoses who require telemetry monitoring are admitted to these beds.

MEDICAL TELEMETRY UNIT (Second Floor):
The medical telemetry unit is a 12-bed unit. The unit is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is staffed with Registered Nurses, Licensed Vocational Nurses and Telemetry Technicians. There are 12 continuously monitored telemetry units available at the nursing station for monitoring of telemetry patients on the second floor medical telemetry unit and 12 continuously monitored telemetry units available for monitoring of telemetry patients on the third floor medical/surgical unit. Monitors are observed by Telemetry Technicians with arrhythmia recognition skills/certification.

SCOPE OF CARE:
The Medical Telemetry Unit provides care for adult, geriatric and occasional pediatric medical/surgical patients who are acutely ill or injured and in varying stages of recuperation from diagnostic and therapeutic interventions who require cardiac monitoring. Pediatric patients are defined as a patient between the ages of 18 months and 16 years of age. The most frequent diagnoses are acute and post MI's, pre- and post- cardiac catheterization, pre- and post- pacemaker insertion, Congestive Heart Failure, Syncope, Cardiac Dysrhythmias and respiratory related diagnoses. Patients with acute cardiac disease or with dysrhythmias related to cardiac disease will be admitted to the Second Floor Telemetry. Patients with a respiratory, medical or surgical diagnosis can be admitted to Third Floor Medical/Surgical Unit for telemetry monitoring.

When the cardiac telemetry monitoring needs exceed the 2nd floor capacity the charge nurse and manager (or designee) will initiate the patient triage process. The 2nd floor physician Medical Director will be contacted to facilitate the triage process as needed.