What is the Observation Unit?

The observation unit is an outpatient area within Dixie Regional Medical Center where a dedicated healthcare team will determine if patients need admission to the hospital, or if they can be safely discharged home with follow up care by their primary care physician. It is our intention to make the determination within 24 hours of you arriving in the unit. This is why this unit is great for chest pain patients to trend troponin levels, and also great for patients who need 24 hour IV antibiotics. Because of this goal of discharge within 24 hours, heparin drips and titratable drips are not ideal for this unit. These medications are usually ordered for more than 24 hours and the patient is not typically ready for discharge after 24 hours. Another goal of this unit is to help free up admit beds throughout the hospital. The observation unit has 12 useable beds. One unique thing about the observation unit is that there is a Nurse Practitioner on the unit from 7am-7pm seven days a week. This helps people get discharged quicker, and admitted quicker. Because we are trying to get our patients discharged quickly, we have to make sure all the tests get done and read quickly. This unit is fast paced and there are many admits and discharges every day.