In the ED, appropriate monitoring of seriously ill patients is of utmost importance. Patients who present with and are being admitted to the hospital for a possible stroke or seizure should always be kept on a cardiac monitor with continuous pulse oximetry so that abnormal cardiac rhythms, blood pressure, or oxygen saturation can be detected immediately and acted on appropriately. Patients who deteriorate in the ED for reasons unknown to the providers must be closely monitored. Patients whose respiratory function deteriorates for unknown reasons must be monitored even more closely; simply placing a non-rebreather on such patient is insufficient.
Patient monitoring medical expert witness specialties include emergency medicine and emergency nursing.