Embodiments may include displaying a sparkline representing one or more physiological parameters measured by a patient monitoring system. The sparkline may be small and incorporated on a busy graphical user interface such as a ventilator display monitor. The sparkline may be utilized to display a baseline value in conjunction with a configurable amount of values, including, but not limited to a most recent or current value and prior values in order for a caregiver to interpret any differences at a glance. The sparkline may include a background area that represents a boundary and various aspects of the sparkline may be color-coded in order to indicate whether the boundary is exceeded. A channel indicator symbol may be included in the sparkline to indicate which channel is being monitored by the patient monitoring system. Further, the sparkline may be selectable in order to bring up more detailed information.