Table 3.

Examples of alert‐initiated interventions

	Intervention
Blood Pressure	The nurse received a low BP alert after the first dose of a new drug was given. The physician was notified, additional testing done and the drug was discontinued.
Heart Rate	The nurse was alerted with a high HR alarm and the physician was notified. The patient was diagnosed with new atrial fibrillation and medically treated.
Respiration Rate	The nurse received a RR alert for a patient requiring CPAP. On visiting the patient's room it was discovered that the CPAP equipment had failed, resulting in a call to repair the equipment.
SpO2	The nurse was alerted to a low SpO2 (69%). On examination it was determined that the patient had removed the O2 cannula to go to the bathroom and did not replace it. The patient and family were educated on the importance of keeping the O2 on and an extension tube was provided to allow the patient to reach the bathroom without removing the cannula.