What type of monitoring might be necessary while a patient is receiving oxygen therapy?

Continuous or periodic monitoring of oxygen saturation is necessary while a patient is receiving oxygen therapy because it provides critical information about the effectiveness of the treatment and helps ensure that the patient is maintaining adequate oxygen levels in the blood. Oxygen saturation levels indicate how well oxygen is being delivered to the body's tissues; monitoring these levels helps healthcare providers adjust the oxygen flow rate as needed to achieve the desired therapeutic effect.

Monitoring oxygen saturation can also help identify any potential complications, such as respiratory distress or the need for increased support, facilitating timely interventions that can prevent adverse outcomes. This is especially important in patients with conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or severe pneumonia, where maintaining appropriate oxygen levels is essential for survival and recovery.

Routine temperature checks, blood pressure monitoring, or relying solely on patient feedback do not provide the specific, critical insights into the patient's oxygenation status that continuous or periodic monitoring of oxygen saturation does. Each of those methods has its own importance in a comprehensive assessment of patient health, but they do not directly measure the effectiveness of oxygen therapy in the same way that monitoring oxygen saturation does.