ECG and Telemetry Patient Monitoring

This handout teaches you about your ECG and Telemetry Monitoring study.

How It Works

You will carry a small battery pack that connects to five stickers (electrodes) on your chest. These sense your heartbeat and send the ECG (electrocardiogram) by radio waves to the computer at the nurses station (telemetry).

Telemetry allows your doctors and nurses to watch your heartbeat for 24 hours a day. It alarms for abnormal heart beats, which are called “arrhythmias.” The doctor will let you know when we can stop the monitoring.

Symptoms to Report

You can help us by telling your nurse if you have:

• Chest pain

• Fast heart beats (palpitations)

• Dizziness or feel faint

• Shortness of breath

Activity Guidelines

During your telemetry study:

• Do not take off the ECG. Your nurse will remove it if it can come off.

• Do not shower with the battery pack on. Check with your nurse to see if you can shower.

• You can move around in your room and in the hallway when your nurse tells you it is okay.

• Check with your nurse to see if you can leave the area. If you get too far away, we may lose the signal from the monitor.

• Avoid talking on a cell phone while on telemetry. Cell phone signals can get in the way of the ECG signal.

Who to Call

Let your doctor or nurse know if you have questions.