Rapid response systems

Remote wireless vital signs monitoring on the ward for early detection of deteriorating patients: A case series

INTRODUCTION

Remote wireless monitoring is a new technology that allows the continuous recording of ward patients' vital signs, supporting nurses by measuring vital signs frequently and accurately. A case series is presented to illustrate how these systems might contribute to improved patient surveillance.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Five hospitals in three European countries installed a remote wireless vital signs monitoring system on medical or surgical wards. Heart rate, respiratory rate and temperature were measured by the system every 2 min. Four cases of (paroxysmal) atrial fibrillation are presented, two cases of sepsis and one case each of pyrexia, cardiogenic pulmonary edema and pulmonary embolisms. All cases show that the remote monitoring system revealed the first signs of ventilatory and circulatory deterioration before a change in the trends of the respective values became obvious by manual vital signs measurement.

DISCUSSION

This case series illustrates that a wireless remote vital signs monitoring system on medical and surgical wards has the potential to reduce time to detect deteriorating patients.

The impact of nurse staffing levels and nurse's education on patient mortality in medical and surgical wards: an observational multicentre study

BACKGROUND

Growing evidence indicates that improved nurse staffing in acute hospitals is associated with lower hospital mortality. Current research is limited to studies using hospital level data or without proper adjustment for confounders which makes the translation to practice difficult.

METHOD

In this observational study we analysed retrospectively the control group of a stepped wedge randomised controlled trial concerning 14 medical and 14 surgical wards in seven Belgian hospitals. All patients admitted to these wards during the control period were included in this study. Pregnant patients or children below 17 years of age were excluded. In all patients, we collected age, crude ward mortality, unexpected death, cardiac arrest with Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), and unplanned admission to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). A composite mortality measure was constructed including unexpected death and death up to 72 h after cardiac arrest with CPR or unplanned ICU admission. Every 4 months we obtained, from 30 consecutive patient admissions across all wards, the Charlson comorbidity index. The amount of nursing hours per patient days (NHPPD) were calculated every day for 15 days, once every 4 months. Data were aggregated to the ward level resulting in 68 estimates across wards and time. Linear mixed models were used since they are most appropriate in case of clustered and repeated measures data.

RESULTS

The unexpected death rate was 1.80 per 1000 patients. Up to 0.76 per 1000 patients died after CPR and 0.62 per 1000 patients died after unplanned admission to the ICU. The mean composite mortality was 3.18 per 1000 patients. The mean NHPPD and proportion of nurse Bachelor hours were respectively 2.48 and 0.59. We found a negative association between the nursing hours per patient day and the composite mortality rate adjusted for possible confounders (B = - 2.771, p = 0.002). The proportion of nurse Bachelor hours was negatively correlated with the composite mortality rate in the same analysis (B = - 8.845, p = 0.023). Using the regression equation, we calculated theoretically optimal NHPPDs.

CONCLUSIONS

This study confirms the association between higher nurse staffing levels and lower patient mortality controlled for relevant confounders.

Cardiac Arrest and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Outcome Reports: Update of the Utstein Resuscitation Registry Template for In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Consensus Report From a Task Force of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (American Heart Association, European Resuscitation Council, Australian and New Zealand Council on Resuscitation, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, InterAmerican Heart Foundation, Resuscitation Council of Southern Africa, Resuscitation Council of Asia)

Utstein-style reporting templates provide a structured framework with which to compare systems of care for cardiac arrest. The 2004 Utstein reporting template encompassed both out-of-hospital and in-hospital cardiac arrest. A 2015 update of the Utstein template focused on out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, which makes this update of the in-hospital template timely. Representatives of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation developed an updated in-hospital Utstein reporting template iteratively by meeting face-to-face, by teleconference, and by online surveys between 2013 and 2018. Data elements were grouped by hospital factors, patient variables, pre-event factors, cardiac arrest and postresuscitation processes, and outcomes. Elements were classified as core or supplemental by use of a modified Delphi process. Variables were described as core if they were considered essential. Core variables should enable reasonable comparisons between systems and are considered essential for quality improvement programs. Together with core variables, supplementary variables are considered useful for research.

Cardiac Arrest and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Outcome Reports: Update of the Utstein Resuscitation Registry Template for In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Consensus Report From a Task Force of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (American Heart Association, European Resuscitation Council, Australian and New Zealand Council on Resuscitation, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, InterAmerican Heart Foundation, Resuscitation Council of Southern Africa, Resuscitation Council of Asia)

Utstein-style reporting templates provide a structured framework with which to compare systems of care for cardiac arrest. The 2004 Utstein reporting template encompassed both out-of-hospital and in-hospital cardiac arrest. A 2015 update of the Utstein template focused on out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, which makes this update of the in-hospital template timely. Representatives of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation developed an updated in-hospital Utstein reporting template iteratively by meeting face-to-face, by teleconference, and by online surveys between 2013 and 2018. Data elements were grouped by hospital factors, patient variables, pre-event factors, cardiac arrest and postresuscitation processes, and outcomes. Elements were classified as core or supplemental by use of a modified Delphi process. Variables were described as core if they were considered essential. Core variables should enable reasonable comparisons between systems and are considered essential for quality improvement programs. Together with core variables, supplementary variables are considered useful for research.

How actionable are staff behaviours specified in policy documents? A document analysis of protocols for managing deteriorating patients

BACKGROUND

To optimise care of deteriorating patients, healthcare organisations have implemented rapid response systems including an "afferent" and "efferent" limb. Afferent limb behaviours include monitoring vital signs and escalating care. To strengthen afferent limb behaviour and reduce adverse patient outcomes, the National Early Warning Score was implemented in the UK. There are no published reports of how National Early Warning Score guidance has translated into trust-level deteriorating patient policy and whether these documents provide clear, actionable statements guiding staff.

AIM

To identify how deteriorating patient policy documents provide "actionable" behavioural instruction for staff, responsible for actioning the afferent limb of the rapid response system.

DESIGN

A structured content analysis of a national guideline and local policies using a behaviour specification framework.

METHODS

Local deteriorating patient policies were obtained. Statements of behaviour were extracted from policies; coded using a behaviour specification framework: Target, Action, Context, Timing and Actor and scored for specificity (1 = present, nonspecific; 2 = present, specific). Frequencies and proportions of statements containing elements of the Target, Action, Context, Timing and Actor framework were summarised descriptively. Reporting was guided by the COREQ checklist.

RESULTS

There were more statements related to monitoring than escalation behaviour (65% vs 35%). Despite high levels of clear specification of the action (94%) and the target of the behaviour (74%), context, timing and actor were poorly specified (37%, 37% and 33%).

CONCLUSION

Delay in escalating deteriorating patients is associated with adverse outcomes. Some delay could be addressed by writing local protocols with greater behavioural specificity, to facilitate actionability.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

Numerous clinical staff are required for an effective response to patient deterioration. To mitigate role confusion, local policy writers should provide clear specification of the actor. As the behaviours are time-sensitive, clear specification of the time frame may increase actionability of policy statements for clinical staff.

Rapid response systems in Korea

The inpatient treatment process is becoming more and more complicated with advanced treatments, aging of the patient population, and multiple comorbidities. During the process, patients often experience unexpected deterioration, about half of which might be preventable. Early identification of patient deterioration and the proper response are priorities in most healthcare facilities. A rapid response system (RRS) is a safety net to identify antecedents of these adverse events and to respond in a timely manner. The RRS has become an essential part of the medical system worldwide, supported by all major quality improvement organizations. An RRS consists of a trigger system and response team and needs constant assessment and process improvement. Although the effectiveness and cost-benefit of RRS remain controversial, according to previous studies, it may be beneficial by decreasing in-hospital cardiac arrest and mortality. Since the first implementation of RRS in Korea in 2008, it has been developed in over 15 medical centers and continues to expand. Recent accreditation standards and an RRS pilot program by the Korean government will promote the proliferation of RRSs in Korea.

Prognostic accuracy of the Hamilton Early Warning Score (HEWS) and the National Early Warning Score 2 (NEWS2) among hospitalized patients assessed by a rapid response team

Background

Rapid response teams (RRTs) respond to hospitalized patients experiencing clinical deterioration and help determine subsequent management and disposition. We sought to evaluate and compare the prognostic accuracy of the Hamilton Early Warning Score (HEWS) and the National Early Warning Score 2 (NEWS2) for prediction of in-hospital mortality following RRT activation. We secondarily evaluated a subgroup of patients with suspected infection.

Methods

We retrospectively analyzed prospectively collected data (2012–2016) of consecutive RRT patients from two hospitals. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. We calculated the number needed to examine (NNE), which indicates the number of patients that need to be evaluated in order to detect one future death.

Results

Five thousand four hundred ninety-one patients were included, of whom 1837 (33.5%) died in-hospital. Mean age was 67.4 years, and 51.6% were male. A HEWS above the low-risk threshold (≥ 5) had a sensitivity of 75.9% (95% confidence interval (CI) 73.9–77.9) and specificity of 67.6% (95% CI 66.1–69.1) for mortality, with a NNE of 1.84. A NEWS2 above the low-risk threshold (≥ 5) had a sensitivity of 84.5% (95% CI 82.8–86.2), and specificity of 49.0% (95% CI: 47.4–50.7), with a NNE of 2.20. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) was 0.76 (95% CI 0.75–0.77) for HEWS and 0.72 (95% CI: 0.71–0.74) for NEWS2. Among suspected infection patients (n = 1708), AUROC for HEWS was 0.79 (95% CI 0.76–0.81) and for NEWS2, 0.75 (95% CI 0.73–0.78).

Conclusions

The HEWS has comparable clinical accuracy to NEWS2 for prediction of in-hospital mortality among RRT patients.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s13054-019-2355-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The necessity of conversion from coronary care unit to the cardiovascular intensive care unit required for cardiologists

The in-hospital mortality rate of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) has dramatically decreased due to the treatment at the coronary care unit (CCU), especially with the progress of arrhythmia therapy and reperfusion therapy. On the other hand, severe heart failure and multiple organ failure are increasing due to aging populations and multiple organ diseases. As a result, patients with AMI without complications are less likely to be admitted to the CCU, and cardiologists staying in the CCU have also decreased. The mortality rate is high when complications such as cardiogenic shock, cardiac rupture, and in-hospital cardiac arrest occur in AMI, therefore careful intensive care even in low-risk AMI is necessary. For cardiologists, mechanical ventilation, renal replacement therapy, or infection control are necessary for cardiovascular intensive care, and integrated multidisciplinary care coordinated by skilled intensive care physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, physiotherapists, pharmacists, nutritionists, social workers, and clinical engineers is important. Therefore, for the critical care of cardiovascular diseases, it is necessary to convert from CCU to the cardiovascular intensive care unit.

Laboratory alerts to guide early intensive care team review in surgical patients: A feasibility, safety, and efficacy pilot randomized controlled trial

AIM

Common blood tests can help identify patients at risk of death, unplanned intensive care unit (ICU) admission, or rapid response team (RRT) call. We aimed to test whether early ICU-team review triggered by such laboratory tests (lab alert) is feasible, safe, and can alter physiological variables, clinical management, and clinical outcomes.

METHODS

In prospective pilot randomized controlled trial in surgical wards of a tertiary hospital, we studied patients admitted for >24 h. We applied a previously validated risk assessment tool to each set of common laboratory tests to identify patients at risk and generate a "lab-alert". We randomly allocated such lab-alert patients to receive early ICU-team review (intervention) or usual care (control).

RESULTS

We studied 205 patients (males 54.1%; average age 79 years; 103 randomized to intervention and 102 to usual care). Intervention patients were more likely to trigger RRT activation during their first lab-alert (10.7 vs. 2.0%; P < 0.001) but less likely to receive an allied health referral (18.0% vs. 24.5%; p = 0.007). They were less likely to trigger RRT activation in the 24-h before subsequent alerts (18.4 vs. 22.4%; p = 0.008) and less likely to generate further alerts (204 vs. 320; p < 0.001), but more likely to receive a not for resuscitation or endotracheal intubation status in the 24-h before subsequent alerts (26.6 vs. 17.3%; p = 0.05). Mortality at 24 h was 1.9% for the intervention group vs. 2.9% in the control group (p = 0.63). Finally, overall mortality was 19.4% for intervention patients vs. 23.5% for control patients (p = 0.50).

CONCLUSION

Among surgical patients, lab alerts identify patients with a high mortality. Lab alert-triggered interventions are associated with more first alert-associated RRT activations; more changes in resuscitation status toward a more conservative approach; fewer subsequent alert-associated RRT activations; fewer subsequent alerts, and decreased allied health interventions (ANZCTRN12615000146594).