Providers frequently issue orders for telemetry (continuous ECG monitoring) of hospital inpatients, but they rarely issue orders to discontinue telemetry. This can cause telemetry beds to be unavailable for patients who need them.

Our hospital health technology assessment (HTA) center conducted a rapid systematic review of evidence on algorithms, guidelines, and other tools for nurses to identify patients who no longer need telemetry. Databases searched included Medline, CINAHL, the Cochrane Library, National Guideline Clearinghouse, and Joanna Briggs Institute.

We found no guidelines or existing systematic reviews of nurse-driven protocols for discontinuing telemetry. There were three published articles describing projects where protocols for discontinuing telemetry were tested. All three of these studies were of low methodologic quality. They all found that use of the protocol reduced the number of hours of telemetry monitoring that were used in the hospital. Two studies published in letter form reported adaptations of computerized order entry systems where nurses assess the patient's readiness for discontinuing telemetry and either discontinue telemetry or report to the ordering physician when the stated discontinuation criteria are met.

Our hospitals are now implementing the HTA findings in our electronic ordering system.