The invention provides a portable patient monitoring device 50 comprising a body 1 having at least one sensor for detecting a characteristic of a patient, a printed circuit board and a communication output for communicating the output of the at least one sensor, wherein the detected patient characteristic is hygiene and/or hydration. The characteristic may be skin tension, skin conductivity, odour or presence of bacteria. In embodiments the sensor may comprise of a pair of contacts. In an embodiment the sensor may use bioluminescence to detect the presence of bacteria. In another embodiment, the device may be calibrated to recognize the odour or chemical makeup of a compound present in a detergent to check if a user has washed their hands.
