Hospital excited to receive two fetal heart monitors

RoxAnne Arnett, obstetrics lead nurse, surprised the Hot Springs community during a Chamber Meet and Greet with the presentation of not just one, but two fetal heart monitors.

The monitors, which enable nurses to monitor the heartbeat of an unborn child, were purchased with matching funds from the Hospital Foundation Board and the greater Hot Springs County community. The Hospital Foundation board challenged the community in October of last year to raise half of the $30,000 necessary for the monitor.

The community and almost all of the staff at the hospital had no idea that the money raised would be able to afford two of the state-of-the-art monitors. “It wasn’t until we were able to make the purchase, so when we got the quote back, the quote was right on target and we’ll take two. We’ve got the money,” Arnett said. The decision was universally agreed upon and the purchase was made at the beginning of September.

“The foundation didn’t know. It was mainly the few administrators and a few of us nurses [that knew], “ she continued, adding that people had “no idea” about the two monitors leading up to the presentation at the Chamber Meet and Greet at the hospital.

“[Two monitors] are able to give us better patient care, better monitoring capabilities for laboring moms, or for monitoring moms for different reasons,” said Arnett.

Hospital staff will be undergoing training on the machines, which will take about a day for the two full time and two per diem labor nurses, soon. Until then, the staff will use the hospital’s old machine.

The ‘old’ fetal heart monitor, still a capable piece of equipment, will be sent to the Big Horn Clinic in Basin. The clinic in Basin up to this point did not have the equipment necessary to monitor the hearts of yet to be born babies. “We’ll be sending one up there for fetal heart checks in Basin instead of having patients come down here to save them travel time,” Arnett said of the beneficial ripples of the new monitors.

The hospital’s charting and computer systems will be revised soon in order to maximize the potential of the new monitors. “We’re working with our Electronic Medical Records system to find out what our capabilities are in our current contract, and what we can do to enhance that,” she said.

About 60 babies are born every year in Hot Spring county. 56 have been born as of this interview on Dec . 4, which puts the hospital right on track for their 60th birth just before the start of the new year. Needless to say, these monitors will make a huge difference in the births of future Hot Springs babies. Not only does the announcement of two new fetal heart monitors allow the hospital to provide the best possible care to Hot Springs residents, it also fulfills the hospital’s mission of “partnering with the community.”