Recognition and communication of patient deterioration in a regional hospital: a multi-methods study

Importance of specific vital signs in nurses' recognition and response to deteriorating patients: A scoping review

AIM(S)

To explore the published research related to nurses' documentation and use of vital signs in recognising and responding to deteriorating patients.

DESIGN

Scoping review of international, peer-reviewed research studies.

DATA SOURCES

Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature Complete, Medline Complete, American Psychological Association PsycInfo and Excerpta Medica were searched on 25 July 2023.

REPORTING METHOD

Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for scoping reviews.

RESULTS

Of 3880 potentially eligible publications, 32 were included. There were 26 studies of nurses' vital sign documentation: 21 adults and five paediatric. The most and least frequently documented vital signs were blood pressure and respiratory rate respectively. Seven studies focused on vital signs and rapid response activation or afferent limb failure. Five studies of vital signs used to trigger the rapid response system showed heart rate was the most frequent and respiratory rate and conscious state were the least frequent. Heart rate was least likely and oxygen saturation was most likely to be associated with afferent limb failure (n = 4 studies).

CONCLUSION

Despite high reliance on using vital signs to recognise clinical deterioration and activate a response to deteriorating patients in hospital settings, nurses' documentation of vital signs and use of vital signs to activate rapid response systems is poorly understood. There were 21studies of nurses' vital sign documentation in adult patients and five studies related to children.

IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PROFESSION AND/OR PATIENT CARE

A deeper understanding of nurses' decisions to assess (or not assess) specific vital signs, analysis of the value or importance nurses place (or not) on specific vital sign parameters is warranted. The influence of patient characteristics (such as age) or the clinical practice setting, and the impact of nurses' workflows of vital sign assessment warrants further investigation.

PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION

No Patient or Public Contribution.

Indicators of patient deterioration in poorly resourced private hospitals: Which vital sign to watch? A retrospective case-control study

BACKGROUND

Patient vital signs are a measure of wellness if monitored regularly and accurately. Staff shortages in poorly resourced regional hospitals often result in inadequate patient monitoring, putting patients at risk of undetected deterioration.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to explore the pattern and completeness of vital sign monitoring and the contribution of each vital sign in predicting clinical deterioration events in resource-poor regional/rural hospitals.

METHOD

Using a retrospective case-control study design, we compared 24 h of vital sign data from deteriorating and nondeteriorating patients from two poorly-resourced regional hospitals. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, and analysis of variance are used to compare patient-monitoring frequency and completeness. The contribution of each vital sign in predicting patient deterioration was determined using the Area Under the Receiver Operator Characteristic curve and binary logistical regression analysis.

RESULTS

Deteriorating patients were monitored more frequently (9.58 [7.02] times) in the 24-h period than nondeteriorating patients (4.93 [2.66] times). However, the completeness of vital sign documentation was higher in nondeteriorating (85.2%) than in deteriorating patients (57.7%). Body temperature was the most frequently omitted vital sign. Patient deterioration was positively linked to the frequency of abnormal vital signs and the number of abnormal vital signs per set (Area Under the Receiver Operator Characteristic curve: 0.872 and 0.867, respectively). No single vital sign strongly predicts patient outcomes. However, a supplementary oxygen value of >3 L/min and a heart rate of >139 beats/min were the best predictors of patient deterioration.

CONCLUSION

Given the poor resourcing and often geographical remoteness of small regional hospitals, it is prudent that the nursing staff are made aware of the vital signs that best indicate deterioration for the cohort of patients in their care. Tachycardic patients on supplementary oxygen are at high risk of deterioration.

CritCom: assessment of quality of interdisciplinary communication around deterioration in pediatric oncologic patients

Background

High-quality clinical care requires excellent interdisciplinary communication, especially during emergencies, and no tools exist to evaluate communication in critical care. We describe the development of a pragmatic tool focusing on interdisciplinary communication during patient deterioration (CritCom).

Methods

The preliminary CritCom tool was developed after a literature review and consultation with a multidisciplinary panel of global experts in communication, pediatric oncology, and critical care to review the domains and establish content validity iteratively. Face and linguistic validity were established through cognitive interviews, translation, and linguistic synthesis. We conducted a pilot study among an international group of clinicians to establish reliability and usability.

Results

After reviewing 105 potential survey items, we identified 52 items across seven domains. These were refined through cognitive interviews with 36 clinicians from 15 countries. CritCom was piloted with 433 clinicians (58% nurses, 36% physicians, and 6% other) from 42 hospitals in 22 countries. Psychometric testing guided the refinement of the items for the final tool. CritCom comprised six domains with five items each (30 total). The final tool has excellent reliability (Cronbach's alpha 0.81-0.86), usability (93% agree or strongly agree that the tool is easy to use), and similar performance between English and Spanish tools. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to establish the final 6-domain structure.

Conclusions

CritCom is a reliable and pragmatic bilingual tool to assess the quality of interdisciplinary communication around patient deterioration for children in diverse resource levels globally. Critcom results can be used to design and evaluate interventions to improve team communication.

Understanding the use of the National Early Warning Score 2 in acute care settings: a realist review protocol

INTRODUCTION

Failure to recognise and respond to patient deterioration in an appropriate and timely manner has been highlighted as a global patient safety concern. Early Warning Scores (EWSs) using vital signs were introduced to address this concern, with the aim of getting the patient timely and appropriate treatment. The National Early Warning Score 2 (NEWS2) is in use across the NHS, and many other settings globally. While patient improvements have been shown, research has identified that the NEWS2 is not always used as intended. Therefore, this review will use a realist approach to understand what the mechanisms are that influence appropriate use (or not) of the NEWS2 in acute care settings, how, for whom and in which contexts. The findings will inform clinicians of what helps and/or hinders appropriate use of the NEWS2 in clinical practice, thus helping to facilitate successful implementation.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

Our realist review will follow Pawson's iterative six step process: (1) Development of initial programme theory. (2) Searching the literature; an information scientist will develop, pilot and refine the search strategy. A systematic search will be completed, based on subject relevancy on the following databases: Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Medline, Embase (OvidSP), Web of Science (Science Citation Index and Social Science Citation), Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Joanna Briggs Institute, Ethos, Proquest Dissertations and Theses Global, and Google Scholar for documents dating from 1997 (date of the first published EWS) to present. To retrieve additional relevant data 'snowballing' (finding references and authors by hand, contacting authors, searching reference lists and citation-tracking using Google Scholar) will be used. Inclusion criteria include all documents (including grey literature) that relate to the use of EWSs/NEWS2 in the English language only. Documents set in the paediatric, maternity and primary care settings will be excluded. (3) Selecting documents and quality appraisal. (4) Extracting and organising the data. (5) Synthesising the data. (6) Disseminating the findings. We will recruit a group of stakeholders comprised of experienced clinicians who use the NEWS2 as part of their clinical practice to provide feedback throughout the review. Step 1 has already begun with the development of an initial programme theory. This initial programme theory presents how the NEWS2 is supposed to work (or not), it will now be developed, tested and refined.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

Ethical approval is not required for this study as it is secondary research. Dissemination will include a peer-reviewed publication and conference presentations. Findings will also be amplified through social media platforms with user friendly summaries. Our stakeholder group will also contribute to dissemination of findings in their clinical areas and among existing networks.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER

CRD42022304497.

Development and validation of a nomogram to predict in-hospital cardiac arrest among patients admitted with acute coronary syndrome

AIM

This study aimed to develop and validate a nomogram to recognize in-hospital cardiac arrest (CA) in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

METHODS

This multicenter case-control study reviewed 164 ACS patients who had in-hospital CA and randomly selected 521 ACS patients with no CA experience. We randomly assigned 80% of the participants to a development cohort, 20% of those to an independent validation cohort. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression model was used for data dimension reduction, and multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to develop the CA prediction nomogram. Nomogram performance was assessed with respect to discrimination, calibration, and clinical usefulness.

RESULTS

Seven parameters, including chest pain, Killip class, potassium, BNP, arrhythmia, platelet count, and NEWS, were used to create individualized CA prediction nomograms. The CA prediction nomogram showed good discrimination (C-index of 0.896, 95%CI, 0.865-0.927) and calibration. Application of the CA prediction nomogram in assessments of the validation cohort improved discrimination (C-index of 0.914, 95%CI, 0.873-0.967) and calibration. The results of decision curve analysis demonstrated that the CA prediction nomogram was clinically useful.

CONCLUSION

Our study generated a friendly risk score to recognize in-hospital CA with good discrimination and calibration. Further studies need to establish a pathway to guide the application of the risk score in clinical practice.

Clinical cues used by nurses to recognize changes in patients' clinical states: A systematic review

The aim of this systematic review was to examine the clinical cues used by acute care nurses to recognize changes in clinical states of adult medical and surgical patients that occurred as usual consequence of acute illness and treatment. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines and checklist were followed. Four databases and reference lists of included studies were searched: from 1,049 studies, 38 were included. There were 26 subjective and 147 objective cues identified; only 6% of all cues described improvements in patients' clinical states. The most common clinical cues used were heart rate, blood pressure and temperature. Many studies (n = 31) focused on only one element of assessment, such as physiological stability, pain, or cognition. There was a paucity of studies detailing the complexity of acute care nurses' assessment practices as they would occur in clinical practice and a disproportionate focus on the objective assessment of deterioration. Studies are needed to understand the full breadth of cues acute care nurses use to recognize clinical change that includes both improvement and deterioration.

Nursing handoffs and clinical judgments regarding patient risk of deterioration: A mixed-methods study

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

To explore how change-of-shift handoffs relate to nurses' clinical judgments regarding patient risk of deterioration.

BACKGROUND

The transfer of responsibility for patients' care comes with an exchange of information about their condition during change-of-shift handoff. However, it is unclear how this exchange affects nurses' clinical judgments regarding patient risk of deterioration.

DESIGN

A sequential explanatory mixed-methods study reported according to the STROBE and COREQ guidelines.

METHODS

Over four months, 62 nurses from one surgical and two medical units at a single Canadian hospital recorded their handoffs at change of shift. After each handoff, the two nurses involved each rated the patient's risk of experiencing cardiac arrest or being transferred to an intensive care unit in the next 24 hr separately. The information shared in handoffs was subjected to content analysis; code frequencies were contrasted per nurses' ratings of patient risk to identify characteristics of information that facilitated or hindered nurses' agreement.

RESULTS

Out of 444 recorded handoffs, there were 125 in which at least one nurse judged that a patient was at risk of deterioration; nurses agreed in 32 cases (25.6%) and disagreed in 93 (74.4%). These handoffs generally included information on abnormal vital signs, breathing problems, chest pain, alteration of mental status or neurological symptoms. However, the quantity and seriousness of clinical cues, recent transfers from intensive care units, pain without a clear cause, signs of delirium and nurses' knowledge of patient were found to affect nurses' agreement.

CONCLUSIONS

Nurses exchanged more information regarding known indicators of deterioration in handoffs when they judged that patients were at risk. Disagreements most often involved incoming nurses rating patient risk as higher.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

This study suggests a need to sensitise nurses to the impact of certain cues at report on their colleagues' subsequent clinical judgments. Low levels of agreement between nurses underscore the importance of exchanging impressions regarding the likely evolution of a patient's situation to promote continuity of care.

Failure to Rescue Event Mitigation System Assessment: A Mixed-methods Approach to Analysis of Complex Adaptive Systems

Although it is widely acknowledged that health care delivery systems are complex adaptive systems, there are gaps in understanding the application of systems engineering approaches to systems analysis and redesign in the health care domain. Commonly employed methods, such as statistical analysis of risk factors and outcomes, are simply not adequate to robustly characterize all system requirements and facilitate reliable design of complex care delivery systems. This is especially apparent in institutional-level systems, such as patient safety programs that must mitigate the risk of infections and other complications that can occur in virtually any setting providing direct and indirect patient care. The case example presented here illustrates the application of various system engineering methods to identify requirements and intervention candidates for a critical patient safety problem known as failure to rescue. Detailed descriptions of the analysis methods and their application are presented along with specific analysis artifacts related to the failure to rescue case study. Given the prevalence of complex systems in health care, this practical and effective approach provides an important example of how systems engineering methods can effectively address the shortcomings in current health care analysis and design, where complex systems are increasingly prevalent.

Understanding Interpersonal and Organizational Dynamics Among Providers Responding to Crisis

Patient rescue occurs in phases: recognizing the problem, communicating the concern, and treating the complication. To help improve rescue, we sought to understand facilitators and barriers to managing postoperative complications. We used a criterion-based sample from a large academic medical center. Semistructured interviews (n = 57) were conducted, which were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis and consensus coding was performed using NVivo 11. We used a framework matrix approach to synthesize our coding and identify themes that facilitate or impede rescue. Clinicians identified root causes for delays in care, such as recognizing patient deterioration, knowing whom to contact and when, and reaching the correct decision-making provider. This study identified significant variation in communication processes across providers caring for surgical patients. Targeted interventions aimed at improving and standardizing these aspects of communication may significantly influence the ability to effectively identify and escalate care for postoperative complications.

The association between nurse staffing levels and a failure to respond to patients with deranged physiology: A retrospective observational study in the UK

BACKGROUND

Responding to abnormalities in patients' vital signs is a fundamental aspect of nursing. However, failure to respond to patient deterioration is common and often leads to adverse patient outcomes. This study aimed to determine the association between Registered Nurse (RN) and Nursing Assistant (NA) staffing levels and the failure to respond promptly to patients' abnormal physiology.

METHODS

This retrospective, observational study used routinely collected patients' vital signs and administrative data, including nursing staffing, from 32 general wards of an acute hospital in England between April 2012 and March 2015. Mixed-effects binomial regression was used to model the relationship between nurse staffing, measured as 'Hours per Patient Day' (HPPD), and a composite primary outcome representing failure to respond for patients with National Early Warning Score (NEWS) values ≥ 6 and ≥ 7.

RESULTS

There were 189,123 NEWS values ≥ 6 and 114,504 NEWS values ≥ 7, affecting 28,098 patients. For patients with NEWS values ≥ 7, failure to respond was significantly associated with levels of RN HPPD ((IRR 0.98, 95% CI 0.96-0.99, p = 0.0001) but not NA HPPD (((IRR 0.99, 95%CI 0.96-1.01, p = 0.238). For patients with NEWS values ≥ 6, no such relationship existed.

CONCLUSIONS

RN, but not NA, staffing levels influence the rates of failure to respond for patients with the most abnormal vital signs (NEWS values ≥ 7). These findings offer a possible explanation for the increasingly reported association between low RN staffing and an increased risk of patient death during a hospital admission.

Nursing Surveillance for Deterioration in Pediatric Patients: An Integrative Review

PROBLEM

Adverse events occur in up to 19% of pediatric hospitalized patients, often associated with delays in recognition or treatment. While early detection is recognized as a primary determinant of recovery from deterioration, most research has focused on profiling patient risk and testing interventions, and less on factors that impact surveillance efficacy. This integrative review explored actions and factors that influence the quality of pediatric nursing surveillance.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Original research on nursing surveillance, escalation of care, or cardiopulmonary deterioration in hospitalized pediatric patients in non-critical environments, published in English in peer reviewed journals.

SAMPLE

Twenty-four studies from a literature search within the databases of CINAHL, PubMed, and Web of Science were evaluated and synthesized using a socio-technical systems theory framework. Study quality was assessed using The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool.

RESULTS

Assessment, documentation, decision-making, intervening and communicating were identified as activities associated with surveillance of deterioration. Factors that influenced nurses' detection of deterioration were patient acuity, nurse education, experience, expertise and confidence, staffing, standardized assessment and communication tools, availability of emergency services, team composition and opportunities for multidisciplinary care planning.

CONCLUSIONS

Research provides insight into some aspects of nursing surveillance but does not adequately explore factors that affect clinical data interpretation and synthesis, and role integration between nurse and parents, and nurse and other clinicians on surveillance of clinical stability.

IMPLICATIONS

Research is needed to enhance understanding of the contextual factors that impact nursing surveillance to inform intervention design to support nurses' timely recognition and mitigation of clinical deterioration.

Optimising paediatric afferent component early warning systems: a hermeneutic systematic literature review and model development

OBJECTIVE

To identify the core components of successful early warning systems for detecting and initiating action in response to clinical deterioration in paediatric inpatients.

METHODS

A hermeneutic systematic literature review informed by translational mobilisation theory and normalisation process theory was used to synthesise 82 studies of paediatric and adult early warning systems and interventions to support the detection of clinical deterioration and escalation of care. This method, which is designed to develop understanding, enabled the development of a propositional model of an optimal afferent component early warning system.

RESULTS

Detecting deterioration and initiating action in response to clinical deterioration in paediatric inpatients involves several challenges, and the potential failure points in early warning systems are well documented. Track and trigger tools (TTT) are commonly used and have value in supporting key mechanisms of action but depend on certain preconditions for successful integration into practice. Several supplementary interventions have been proposed to improve the effectiveness of early warning systems but there is limited evidence to recommend their wider use, due to the weight and quality of the evidence; the extent to which systems are conditioned by the local clinical context; and the need to attend to system component relationships, which do not work in isolation. While it was not possible to make empirical recommendations for practice, the review methodology generated theoretical inferences about the core components of an optimal system for early warning systems. These are presented as a propositional model conceptualised as three subsystems: detection, planning and action.

CONCLUSIONS

There is a growing consensus of the need to think beyond TTTs in improving action to detect and respond to clinical deterioration. Clinical teams wishing to improve early warning systems can use the model to consider systematically the constellation of factors necessary to support detection, planning and action and consider how these arrangements can be implemented in their local context.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER

CRD42015015326.

Nurses' cognitive and perceptual bias in the identification of clinical deterioration cues

BACKGROUND

Perception and processing of clinical cues have rarely been investigated in the nursing literature despite their relevance to the early identification and management of clinical deterioration.

AIM

This study used a hypovolemic shock scenario from the Feedback Incorporating Review and Simulation Techniques to Act on Clinical Trends (FIRST2ACT) virtual simulation program, equipped with an eye tracker, to investigate cue processing during the management of patient deterioration.

RESULT

The study revealed that attention deviation distorted interpretation of subsequent cues, causing 63% of participants to exhibit a cognitive bias (heightened sensitivity to specific but noncritical cues) and 65% to exhibit at least one episode of nonfixation on clinically relevant cues. Attention deviation and distorted interpretations of clinical cues will have an impact on patient safety.

CONCLUSION

The findings are likely to have important implications for understanding error and associated training implications.

What factors influence midwives to provide obstetric high dependency care on the delivery suite or request care be escalated away from the obstetric unit? Findings of a focus group study

BACKGROUND

In the United Kingdom, midwives will engage in discussions with the multidisciplinary team as to whether they can provide Obstetric High Dependency Care (OHDC) on the Delivery Suite or whether a woman's care should be escalated to the critical care team. This study aimed to explore the question: What factors influence midwives to provide OHDC or request care be escalated away from the obstetric unit in hospitals remote from tertiary referral centres?

METHODS

Focus groups were undertaken with midwives (n = 34) across three obstetric units in England, with annual birth rates ranging from 1500 to 5000 per annum, in District General Hospitals. Three scenarios in the form of video vignettes of handover were used as triggers for the focus groups. Scenario 1; severe pre-eclampsia, physiologically unstable 2; major postpartum haemorrhage requiring invasive monitoring 3; recent admission of woman with chest pain receiving facial oxygen and requiring continuous electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring. Two focus groups were conducted in each of the obstetric units with experienced midwives. Data were analysed using a qualitative framework approach.

RESULTS

Factors influencing midwives' care escalation decisions included the care environment, a woman's diagnosis and fetal or neonatal factors. The overall plan of care including the need for ECG and invasive monitoring were also influential factors. Midwives in the smallest obstetric unit did not have access to the facilities for OHDC provision. Midwives in the larger obstetric units provided OHDC but identified varying degrees of skill and sometimes used 'workarounds' to facilitate care provision. Midwifery staffing levels, skill mix and workload were also influential. Some differences of opinion were evident between midwives working in the same obstetric units as to whether OHDC could be provided and the support they would enlist to help them provide it. Reliance on clinical guidelines appeared variable.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings indicate that there may be inequitable OHDC provision at a local level. Organisationally robust systems are required to promote safe, equitable OHDC care including skills development for midwives and precise escalation guidelines to minimise workarounds. Training for midwives must include strategies that prevent skills fade.

To identify the factors that influence the recognizing and responding to adult patient deterioration in acute hospitals

AIMS

To identify factors that influence recognition and response to adult patient deterioration in acute hospitals.

DESIGN

A mixed-studies systematic review.

DATA SOURCES

CINAHL, Medline, and Web of Science were searched for relevant literature published between 2007 - 2018.

REVIEW METHODS

Studies were critically appraised, data extracted and thematically analysed.

RESULTS

Thirteen papers met the inclusion criteria. Three main themes were identified: (a) Knowledge and understanding of clinical deterioration; (b) Organizational factors; managing deterioration and staffing levels; and (c) Communication; inter-professional relationships and professional-patient communication.

CONCLUSION

Despite national guidelines, the review findings suggest that the recognition and response to adult patient deterioration in acute hospital settings is sub-optimal. A multitude of factors influencing the recognition and response to adult patient deterioration emerged from the findings.

IMPACT

Patients are receiving sub-optimal care due to failure in recognizing and responding to patient deterioration in an appropriate and timely manner. Nurses lack knowledge and understanding of deterioration. Organizational factors contribute to inadequate care and communication among professionals was highlighted as challenging. The factors that influence the recognizing and responding to patient deterioration in acute hospitals are multi-faceted, however this review highlights immediate recommendations for professionals in the acute care setting.

Eye-tracking reveals how observation chart design features affect the detection of patient deterioration: An experimental study

Particular design features intended to improve usability - including graphically displayed observations and integrated colour-based scoring-systems - have been shown to increase the speed and accuracy with which users of hospital observation charts detect abnormal patient observations. We used eye-tracking to evaluate two potential cognitive mechanisms underlying these effects. Novice chart-users completed a series of experimental trials in which they viewed patient data presented on one of three observation chart designs (varied within-subjects), and indicated which observation was abnormal (or that none were). A chart that incorporated both graphically displayed observations and an integrated colour-based scoring-system yielded faster, more accurate responses and fewer, shorter fixations than a graphical chart without a colour-based scoring-system. The latter, in turn, yielded the same advantages over a tabular chart (which incorporated neither design feature). These results suggest that both colour-based scoring-systems and graphically displayed observations improve search efficiency and reduce the cognitive resources required to process vital sign data.

Factors Influencing How Intensive Care Unit Nurses Allocate Their Time

Spending time with the patient is essential for intensive care unit (ICU) nurses to detect clinical change. This article reports on an examination of factors influencing nurses’ activity time allocation. Data were analyzed from a prospective time and motion study of medical ICU nurses. Nurse demographic data and observation, electronic locator technology, and electronic medical record log data were collected over 12 days from 11 registered nurses. Charlson Co-Morbidity Index and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment scores were calculated for patient assignments. Nurses averaged 78.04 ( SD = 47.85) min per patient on activities in the patient room. Years of ICU nursing experience and the patient’s Charlson Co-Morbidity Index was significantly associated with time spent in the patient’s room. Neither nursing education nor specialty certification was found to influence time spent in a patient’s room. Using technology can advance understanding of nurses’ time allocation leading to interventions optimizing time spent with the patient.

Relationships between healthcare staff characteristics and the conduct of vital signs observations at night: Results of a survey and factor analysis

AIM

To explore the association of healthcare staff with factors relevant to completing observations at night.

DESIGN

Online survey conducted with registered nurses, midwives, healthcare support staff and student nurses who had worked at least one night shift in a National Health Service hospital in England.

METHODS

Exploratory factor analysis and mixed effects regression model adjusting for role, number of night shifts worked, experience and shift patterns.

RESULTS

Survey items were summarized into four factors: (a) workload and resources; (b) prioritization; (c) safety culture; (d) responsibility and control. Staff experience and role were associated with conducting surveillance tasks. Nurses with greater experience associated workload and resources with capacity to complete work at night. Responses of student nurses and midwives showed higher propensity to follow the protocol for conducting observations. Respondents working night shifts either exclusively or occasionally perceived that professional knowledge rather than protocol guided care tasks during night shifts.

Current monitoring and innovative predictive modeling to improve care in the pediatric cardiac intensive care unit

The objectives of this review are (I) to describe the challenges associated with monitoring patients in the pediatric cardiac intensive care unit (PCICU) and (II) to discuss the use of innovative statistical and artificial intelligence (AI) software programs to attempt to predict significant clinical events. Patients cared for in the PCICU are clinically fragile and at risk for fatal decompensation. Current monitoring modalities are often ineffective, sometimes inaccurate, and fail to detect a deteriorating clinical status in a timely manner. Predictive models created by AI and machine learning may lead to earlier detection of patients at risk for clinical decompensation and thereby improve care for critically ill pediatric cardiac patients.

Clinical and Sociocultural Factors Associated With Failure to Escalate Care of Deteriorating Patients

In-hospital medical emergencies occur frequently. Understanding how clinicians respond to deteriorating patients outside the intensive care unit (ICU) could improve "rescue" interventions and rapid response programs. This was a qualitative study with interviews with 40 clinicians caring for patients who had a "Code Blue" activation or an unplanned ICU admission at teaching hospitals over 7 months. Four study physicians independently analyzed interview transcripts; refined themes were linked to the transcript using text analysis software. Nine themes were found to be associated with clinicians' management of deteriorating patients. Multiple human biases influence daily care for deteriorating hospitalized patients. A novel finding is that "moral distress" affects escalation behavior for patients with poor prognosis. Most themes indicate that ward culture influences clinicians to wait until the last minute to escalate care despite being worried about the patients' condition.

Errors in the nursing management of a deteriorating patient

Effective management of the deteriorating patient requires early recognition of the signs of deterioration, timely review and appropriate interventions. However, this does not always occur. Errors in the recognition and management of a deteriorating patient are rarely related to a single factor; rather they are a complex interaction of system and human factors. This article presents a case study focusing on understanding the factors that led to errors resulting in the death of a patient. Understanding the complex interaction of system and human factors enables the identification of strategies that could be used to decrease the likelihood of a similar incident occurring.

Nurses' experiences of managing patient deterioration following a post-registration education programme: A critical incident analysis study

The aim of this study was to explore nurses' experiences assessing and managing deteriorating patients in practice following completion of a relevant post-registration education programme. Recognising the increasing acuity of ward patients, nurses are faced with patients who are at an increased risk of deterioration. Patients who are acutely ill or deteriorating often exhibit periods of physiological deterioration; however there is evidence illustrating that these clinical changes are frequently missed, misinterpreted or mismanaged in practice. In order to prepare nurses to competently assess and manage the deteriorating patient, education as a care initiative is offered to develop the knowledge and skills required. A qualitative study using critical incident analysis was conducted to acquire narrative data from nurses, describing their clinical practice experiences of patient deterioration. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Findings revealed improvements in nurses' abilities to recognise patient deterioration, greater application of the evidence base and an increase in confidence and assertiveness. There was some evidence of applying the knowledge and skills learned, however equally some nurses indicated that they remained ill-prepared to apply the skills in practice.

Early warnings of heart rate deterioration

Hospitals can experience difficulty in detecting and responding to early signs of patient deterioration leading to late intensive care referrals, excess mortality and morbidity, and increased hospital costs. Our study aims to explore potential indicators of physiological deterioration by the analysis of vital-signs. The dataset used comprises heart rate (HR) measurements from MIMIC II waveform database, taken from six patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and diagnosed with severe sepsis. Different indicators were considered: 1) generic early warning indicators used in ecosystems analysis (autocorrelation at-1-lag (ACF1), standard deviation (SD), skewness, kurtosis and heteroskedasticity) and 2) entropy analysis (kernel entropy and multi scale entropy). Our preliminary findings suggest that when a critical transition is approaching, the equilibrium state changes what is visible in the ACF1 and SD values, but also by the analysis of the entropy. Entropy allows to characterize the complexity of the time series during the hospital stay and can be used as an indicator of regime shifts in a patient's condition. One of the main problems is its dependency of the scale used. Our results demonstrate that different entropy scales should be used depending of the level of entropy verified.

Recognising and responding to in-hospital clinical deterioration: An integrative review of interprofessional practice issues

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

To identify, appraise and synthesise current evidence regarding organisation-wide interprofessional practice issues that facilitate or inhibit effective recognition and response to clinical deterioration, using a theoretical rapid response system model.

BACKGROUND

Recognition and response to clinical deterioration, in adult general medical-surgical ward patients, is embedded as routine interprofessional practice in acute healthcare organisations worldwide. The process of care escalation is complex and sometimes involves multiple health professionals from different disciplines with varying levels of expertise. While a theoretical rapid response system model offers a formalised structured approach to escalate patient care, it is unclear how the implementation of this model, or similar, influences rapid response system-wide interprofessional practices to effectively recognise and respond to clinical deterioration.

DESIGN

An integrative review.

METHODS

This review was conducted using key words to systematically search four electronic bibliographic databases (PubMed, CINAHL, ProQuest Central, Cochrane Library). Twenty-nine eligible full-text papers were identified. Quality appraisal of methods was performed using recommended guidelines. Study findings were narratively coded, themed and conceptualised in the context of an organisation-wide rapid response system using an interprofessional collaborative practice framework.

RESULTS

Five main themes aligned with the four interprofessional collaborative practice competency domains and a learning continuum of professional development: Organisational culture, Role perceptions and professional accountability, Communication of clinical needs, Team-based practices, and Interprofessional learning opportunities in recognising and responding to clinical deterioration. Within these themes, three notable interprofessional practice issues were highlighted: professional reporting hierarchies (inhibiting), critical care outreach services (facilitating) and interprofessional relationships (facilitating).

CONCLUSIONS

A unique approach for exploring organisation-wide interprofessional practice issues has been presented using an interprofessional collaborative practice framework. Further interpretive organisation-wide research is necessary to develop a more in-depth and meaningful understanding of interprofessional collaborative practice issues that facilitate or inhibit effective recognition and response to clinical deterioration.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

This review presents a unique system-wide approach for exploring how health professionals interprofessionally collaborate in practice to effectively recognise and respond to clinical deterioration.

Post-procedural Care in Interventional Radiology: What Every Interventional Radiologist Should Know-Part II: Catheter Care and Management of Common Systemic Post-procedural Complications

Interventional radiology (IR) has evolved into a full-fledged clinical specialty with attendant comprehensive patient care responsibilities. Providing excellent and thorough clinical care is as essential to the practice of IR as achieving technical success in procedures. Basic clinical skills that every interventional radiologist should learn include routine management of percutaneously inserted drainage and vascular catheters and rapid effective management of common systemic post-procedural complications. A structured approach to post-procedural care, including routine follow-up and early identification and management of complications, facilitates efficient and thorough management with an emphasis on quality and patient safety. The aim of this second part, in conjunction with part 1, is to complete the comprehensive review of post-procedural care in patients undergoing interventional radiology procedures. We discuss common problems encountered after insertion of drainage and vascular catheters and describe effective methods of troubleshooting these problems. Commonly encountered systemic complications in IR are described, and ways for immediate identification and management of these complications are provided.

Paediatric early warning systems for detecting and responding to clinical deterioration in children: a systematic review

OBJECTIVE

To systematically review the available evidence on paediatric early warning systems (PEWS) for use in acute paediatric healthcare settings for the detection of, and timely response to, clinical deterioration in children.

METHOD

The electronic databases PubMed, MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE and Cochrane were searched systematically from inception up to August 2016. Eligible studies had to refer to PEWS, inclusive of rapid response systems and teams. Outcomes had to be specific to the identification of and/or response to clinical deterioration in children (including neonates) in paediatric hospital settings (including emergency departments). 2 review authors independently completed the screening and selection process, the quality appraisal of the retrieved evidence and data extraction; with a third reviewer resolving any discrepancies, as required. Results were narratively synthesised.

RESULTS

From a total screening of 2742 papers, 90 papers, of varied designs, were identified as eligible for inclusion in the review. Findings revealed that PEWS are extensively used internationally in paediatric inpatient hospital settings. However, robust empirical evidence on which PEWS is most effective was limited. The studies examined did however highlight some evidence of positive directional trends in improving clinical and process-based outcomes for clinically deteriorating children. Favourable outcomes were also identified for enhanced multidisciplinary team work, communication and confidence in recognising, reporting and making decisions about child clinical deterioration.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite many studies reporting on the complexity and multifaceted nature of PEWS, no evidence was sourced which examined PEWS as a complex healthcare intervention. Future research needs to investigate PEWS as a complex multifaceted sociotechnical system that is embedded in a wider safety culture influenced by many organisational and human factors. PEWS should be embraced as a part of a larger multifaceted safety framework that will develop and grow over time with strong governance and leadership, targeted training, ongoing support and continuous improvement.

An analysis of messages sent between nurses and physicians in deteriorating internal medicine patients to help identify issues in failures to rescue

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate in patients who deteriorate and require transfer to the intensive care unit (ICU), how many have a critical text message communicating deterioration and what is the quality of this message? Is message quality, message response or the timeliness of rapid response team (RRT) activation related to death?

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective chart review of all ICU transfers from General Internal Medicine (GIM) wards from January 2012 until August 2014. All critical messages (CM) in the 48h prior to ICU transfer were analyzed for RRT calling criteria, time to RRT activation, message quality, presence of vitals, and the quality and timeliness of physician response.

RESULTS

Of the 236 patients in the study, 93 (39%) had a CM in the 48h prior to ICU transfer. Within this subset, 76 patients did not have prior RRT activation and the median times from CM to RRT activation and CM to ICU transfer were 8.9 [IQR 2.9, 20.7] and 15.6 [IQR 9.0, 28.7] hours, respectively. Only 45% of messages contained 2 or more vitals and only 3% of messages contained Situation, Background, Assessment, and Recommendations (SBAR). Physician response was timely (3 [IQR 2, 17] min) but response quality was poor; nearly one quarter of responses only acknowledged receipt. Among message characteristics, only the number of SBAR elements was correlated with in-hospital survival (p=0.047).

CONCLUSION

Communication between nurses and physicians about critically ill patients could be improved. There appear to be significant gaps in the quality of messages, their responses, and delays in RRT activation.

The impact of web-based and face-to-face simulation on patient deterioration and patient safety: protocol for a multi-site multi-method design

Background

There are international concerns in relation to the management of patient deterioration which has led to a body of evidence known as the ‘failure to rescue’ literature. Nursing staff are known to miss cues of deterioration and often fail to call for assistance. Medical Emergency Teams (Rapid Response Teams) do improve the management of acutely deteriorating patients, but first responders need the requisite skills to impact on patient safety.

Methods/design

In this study we aim to address these issues in a mixed methods interventional trial with the objective of measuring and comparing the cost and clinical impact of face-to-face and web-based simulation programs on the management of patient deterioration and related patient outcomes. The education programs, known as ‘FIRST²ACT’, have been found to have an impact on education and will be tested in four hospitals in the State of Victoria, Australia. Nursing staff will be trained in primary (the first 8 min) responses to emergencies in two medical wards using a face-to-face approach and in two medical wards using a web-based version FIRST²ACTWeb. The impact of these interventions will be determined through quantitative and qualitative approaches, cost analyses and patient notes review (time series analyses) to measure quality of care and patient outcomes.

Discussion

In this 18 month study it is hypothesised that both simulation programs will improve the detection and management of deteriorating patients but that the web-based program will have lower total costs. The study will also add to our overall understanding of the utility of simulation approaches in the preparation of nurses working in hospital wards. (ACTRN12616000468426, retrospectively registered 8.4.2016).

Medical-surgical nurses' experiences as first responders during deterioration events: a qualitative study

AIM AND OBJECTIVE

To explore and understand the experiences of medical-surgical nurses as first responders during clinical deterioration events.

BACKGROUND

Nurses are key players in identifying and responding to deterioration events to escalate the level of care essential to address specific needs of patients. Delays in recognising signs and symptoms of patient deterioration and activation of Rapid Response Teams have been linked to a lack of nontechnical skills (leadership, teamwork, situational awareness) resulting in increased patient morbidity and mortality.

DESIGN

A descriptive, qualitative approach was used.

METHODS

A purposive sample of 28 medical-surgical nurses was recruited and interviewed from an integrated healthcare system located in the USA. Interviews were conducted from October 2014-February 2015. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were entered into MaxQDA. The constant comparative method was used for data analysis.

RESULTS

Three patterns emerged from the data analysis: Recognising and Responding to the Event, Managing the Event and Challenges Encountered during the Event. From the patterns, seven themes emerged. Themes for pattern one, Recognising and Responding, were early warning signs, continuity in patient care assignments and intuition. Themes for pattern two, Managing the Event, were cognitive, technical and behavioural skills. The theme for pattern three, Challenges Encountered during the Event, was work environment complexity.

CONCLUSION

Listening to the stories of medical-surgical nurses provided insight into how they recognised and managed patients experiencing clinical deterioration events. Furthermore, insight into the challenges that medical-surgical nurses encountered in caring for deteriorating patients were identified.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

Implication for practice in the areas of continuity of patient assignments, formal clinical deterioration education, work environment and team collaboration and communication was presented.

The effects of an enhanced simulation programme on medical students' confidence responding to clinical deterioration

BACKGROUND

Clinical deterioration in adult hospital patients is an identified issue in healthcare practice globally. Teaching medical students to recognise and respond to the deteriorating patient is crucial if we are to address the issue in an effective way. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of an enhanced simulation exercise known as RADAR (Recognising Acute Deterioration: Active Response), on medical students' confidence.

METHODS

A questionnaire survey was conducted; the instrument contained three sections. Section 1 focused on students' perceptions of the learning experience; section 2 investigated confidence. Both sections employed Likert-type scales. A third section invited open responses. Questionnaires were distributed to a cohort of third-year medical students (n = 158) in the North East of Scotland 130 (82 %) were returned for analysis, employing IBM SPSS v18 and ANOVA techniques.

RESULTS

Students' responses pointed to many benefits of the sessions. In the first section, students responded positively to the educational underpinning of the sessions, with all scores above 4.00 on a 5-point scale. There were clear learning outcomes; the sessions were active and engaging for students with an appropriate level of challenge and stress; they helped to integrate theory and practice; and effective feedback on their performance allowed students to reflect and learn from the experience. In section 2, the key finding was that scores for students' confidence to recognise deterioration increased significantly (p. < .001) as a result of the sessions. Effect sizes (Eta(2)) were high, (0.68-0.75). In the open-ended questions, students pointed to many benefits of the RADAR course, including the opportunity to employ learned procedures in realistic scenarios.

CONCLUSIONS

The use of this enhanced form of simulation with simulated patients and the judicious use of moulage is an effective method of increasing realism for medical students. Importantly, it gives them greater confidence in recognising and responding to clinical deterioration in adult patients. We recommend the use of RADAR as a safe and cost-effective approach in the area of clinical deterioration and suggest that there is a need to investigate its use with different patient groups.

What factors influence ward nurses' recognition of and response to patient deterioration? An integrative review of the literature

Aim

In this integrative review, we aimed to: first, identify and summarize published studies relating to ward nurses' recognition of and response to patient deterioration; second, to critically evaluate studies that described or appraised the practice of ward nurses in recognizing and responding to patient deterioration; and third, identify gaps in the literature for further research.

Design

An integrative review.

Methods

The Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) Ovid Medline, Informit and Google Scholar databases were accessed for the years 1990–2014. Data were extracted and summarized in tables and then appraised using the Mixed Method Appraisal Tool. Data were grouped into two domains; recognizing and responding to deterioration and then thematic analysis was used to identify the emerging themes.

Results

Seventeen studies were reviewed and appraised. Recognizing patient deterioration was encapsulated in four themes: (1) assessing the patient; (2) knowing the patient; (3) education and (4) environmental factors. Responding to patient deterioration was encapsulated in three themes; (1) non‐technical skills; (2) access to support and (3) negative emotional responses.

Conclusion

Issues involved in timely recognition of and response to clinical deterioration remain complex, yet patient safety relies on nurses’ timely assessments and actions.

Inpatient nursing care and early warning scores: a workflow mismatch

Early warning scores calculated by registered nurses (RNs) are used in hospitals to enhance the recognition of and communication about patient deterioration. This study evaluated workflow variables surrounding calculation and documentation of one pediatric hospital's use of an early warning score. Results indicated that there were significant delays in documentation of early warning scores by RNs and inconsistencies between the early warning scores and vital signs collected and documented by non-RN personnel. These findings reflected information obtained from the RNs about how they prioritize tasks and use work-arounds to specific systems issues regarding assessment and documentation in the electronic medical record.

Standard instruction versus simulation: Educating registered nurses in the early recognition of patient deterioration in paediatric critical care

Identifying and stabilising deterioration in a child with significant clinical compromise is both a challenging and necessary role of the paediatric critical care nurse. Within adult critical care research, high fidelity patient simulation (HFPS) has been shown to positively impact learner outcomes regarding identification and management of a deteriorating patient; however, there is a paucity of evidence examining the use of HFPS in paediatric nursing education. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of HFPS on nurses' self-efficacy and knowledge for recognising and managing paediatric deterioration. Further, participants' perceptions of the learning experiences specific to the identification and management of a deteriorating child were also explored. Registered nurses working in a tertiary-referral paediatric critical care unit were recruited for this quasi-experimental study. Using a pre-test/post-test control-group design, participants were assigned to one of two learning experiences: HFPS or standard instruction. Following the learning experience, nurses were also invited to participate in semi-structured interviews. 30 nurses participated in the study (control n=15, experiment n=15). Participants in the HFPS intervention were most likely to demonstrate an increase in both perceived self-efficacy (p=<0.01) and knowledge (p=<0.01). No statistically significant change was observed in control group scores. The mean difference in self-efficacy gain score between the two groups was 5.67 score units higher for the experiment group compared to the control. HFPS also yielded higher follow-up knowledge scores (p=0.01) compared to standard instruction. Ten nurses participated in semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis of the interview data identified four themes: self-awareness, hands-on learning, teamwork, and maximising learning. The results of this study suggest that HFPS can positively influence nurses' self-efficacy and knowledge test scores specific to the recognition and management of paediatric deterioration.

Observation chart design features affect the detection of patient deterioration: a systematic experimental evaluation

AIM

To systematically evaluate the impact of several design features on chart-users' detection of patient deterioration on observation charts with early-warning scoring-systems.

BACKGROUND

Research has shown that observation chart design affects the speed and accuracy with which abnormal observations are detected. However, little is known about the contribution of individual design features to these effects.

DESIGN

A 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 mixed factorial design, with data-recording format (drawn dots vs. written numbers), scoring-system integration (integrated colour-based system vs. non-integrated tabular system) and scoring-row placement (grouped vs. separate) varied within-participants and scores (present vs. absent) varied between-participants by random assignment.

METHODS

205 novice chart-users, tested between March 2011-March 2014, completed 64 trials where they saw real patient data presented on an observation chart. Each participant saw eight cases (four containing abnormal observations) on each of eight designs (which represented a factorial combination of the within-participants variables). On each trial, they assessed whether any of the observations were physiologically abnormal, or whether all observations were normal. Response times and error rates were recorded for each design.

RESULTS

Participants responded faster (scores present and absent) and made fewer errors (scores absent) using drawn-dot (vs. written-number) observations and an integrated colour-based (vs. non-integrated tabular) scoring-system. Participants responded faster using grouped (vs. separate) scoring-rows when scores were absent, but separate scoring-rows when scores were present.

CONCLUSION

Our findings suggest that several individual design features can affect novice chart-users' ability to detect patient deterioration. More broadly, the study further demonstrates the need to evaluate chart designs empirically.

Early identification and management of the unstable adult patient in the emergency department

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The focus of this research was to standardise an emergency observation chart, the Adult Emergency Department Flow Chart, which incorporates elements designed to allow clinicians to more readily recognise the trends of patient deterioration.

BACKGROUND

Patients present to the Emergency Department with some form of instability. Core skills and principles of Emergency Department care are to rapidly and continually assess the clinical condition of the patient, prioritise their care and treat accordingly. Often, however, deterioration of these patients is missed. The incidence of missed deterioration is set within a background of increasing presentations to Emergency Departments, greater complexity of the patient health status, longer length of stay within the Emergency Department and an ageing population.

DESIGN

This quantitative research study comprised a retrospective medical record audit. Only those records containing notes relating to an Emergency Department admission were included.

METHODS

An online data collection tool based on the Adult Emergency Department Flow Chart was developed. A total of 181 medical records were reviewed: 80 during the pre-implementation audit and 101 during the post-implementation audit.

RESULTS

The Adult Emergency Department Flow Chart enabled clinicians to better identify deteriorating patients, with a higher number of abnormal vital signs being identified at the post-implementation audit. Identification of pain also dramatically increased at the post-implementation audit. Documentation of notification to Medical Officers also increased, as did documentation of the number of patients receiving medication to help treat the abnormal vital sign.

CONCLUSION

The introduction of the Adult Emergency Department Flow Chart facilitated the essential role of nurses in the identification, documentation and monitoring of the unstable or deteriorating patient in the Emergency Department. Further research is required with larger samples to determine the impact of the Adult Emergency Department Flow Chart on the timely management of abnormal vital signs.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

The Adult Emergency Flow Chart provides a valuable tool for the early identification and subsequent management of an unstable / deteriorating adult in the emergency department, particularly for clinicians with limited experience.

Nurses' worry or concern and early recognition of deteriorating patients on general wards in acute care hospitals: a systematic review

Introduction

Nurses often recognize deterioration in patients through intuition rather than through routine measurement of vital signs. Adding the ‘worry or concern’ sign to the Rapid Response System provides opportunities for nurses to act upon their intuitive feelings. Identifying what triggers nurses to be worried or concerned might help to put intuition into words, and potentially empower nurses to act upon their intuitive feelings and obtain medical assistance in an early stage of deterioration. The aim of this systematic review is to identify the signs and symptoms that trigger nurses’ worry or concern about a patient’s condition.

Methods

We searched the databases PubMed, CINAHL, Psychinfo and Cochrane Library (Clinical Trials) using synonyms related to the three concepts: ‘nurses’, ‘worry/concern’ and ‘deterioration’. We included studies concerning adult patients on general wards in acute care hospitals. The search was performed from the start of the databases until 14 February 2014.

Results

The search resulted in 4,006 records, and 18 studies (five quantitative, nine qualitative and four mixed-methods designs) were included in the review. A total of 37 signs and symptoms reflecting the nature of the criterion worry or concern emerged from the data and were summarized in 10 general indicators. The results showed that worry or concern can be present with or without change in vital signs.

Conclusions

The signs and symptoms we found in the literature reflect the nature of nurses’ worry or concern, and nurses may incorporate these signs in their assessment of the patient and their decision to call for assistance. The fact that it is present before changes in vital signs suggests potential for improving care in an early stage of deterioration.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13054-015-0950-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Defining patient deterioration through acute care and intensive care nurses' perspectives

AIM

To explore the variations between acute care and intensive care nurses' understanding of patient deterioration according to their use of this term in published literature.

BACKGROUND

Evidence suggests that nurses on wards do not always recognize and act upon patient deterioration appropriately. Even if resources exist to call for intensive care nurses' help, acute care nurses use them infrequently and the problem of unattended patient deterioration remains.

DESIGN

Dimensional analysis was used as a framework to analyze papers retrieved in a nursing-focused database.

METHOD

A thematic analysis of 34 papers (2002-2012) depicting acute care and intensive care unit nurses' perspectives on patient deterioration was conducted.

FINDINGS

No explicit definition of patient deterioration was retrieved in the papers. There are variations between acute care and intensive care unit nurses' accounts of this concept, particularly regarding the validity of patient deterioration indicators. Contextual factors, processes and consequences are also explored.

CONCLUSIONS

From the perspectives of acute care and intensive care nurses, patient deterioration can be defined as an evolving, predictable and symptomatic process of worsening physiology towards critical illness. Contextual factors relating to acute care units (ACU) appear as barriers to optimal care of the deteriorating patient. This work can be considered as a first effort in modelling the concept of patient deterioration, which could be specific to ACU.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

The findings suggest that it might be relevant to include subjective indicators of patient deterioration in track and trigger systems and educational efforts. Contextual factors impacting care for the deteriorating patient could be addressed in further attempts to deal with this issue.

Knowing 'something is not right' is beyond intuition: development of a clinical algorithm to enhance surveillance and assist nurses to organise and communicate clinical findings

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

To develop a clinical algorithm to guide nurses' critical thinking through systematic surveillance, assessment, actions required and communication strategies. To achieve this, an international, multiphase project was initiated.

BACKGROUND

Patients receive hospital care postoperatively because they require the skilled surveillance of nurses. Effective assessment of postoperative patients is essential for early detection of clinical deterioration and optimal care management. Despite the significant amount of time devoted to surveillance activities, there is lack of evidence that nurses use a consistent, systematic approach in surveillance, management and communication, potentially leading to less optimal outcomes. Several explanations for the lack of consistency have been suggested in the literature.

DESIGN

Mixed methods approach.

METHODS

Retrospective chart review; semi-structured interviews conducted with expert nurses (n = 10); algorithm development.

RESULTS

Themes developed from the semi-structured interviews, including (1) complete, systematic assessment, (2) something is not right (3) validating with others, (4) influencing factors and (5) frustration with lack of response when communicating findings were used as the basis for development of the Surveillance Algorithm for Post-Surgical Patients.

CONCLUSION

The algorithm proved beneficial based on limited use in clinical settings. Further work is needed to fully test it in education and practice.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

The Surveillance Algorithm for Post-Surgical Patients represents the approach of expert nurses, and serves to guide less expert nurses' observations, critical thinking, actions and communication. Based on this approach, the algorithm assists nurses to develop skills promoting early detection, intervention and communication in cases of patient deterioration.

Requirements of a new communication technology for handover and the escalation of patient care: a multi-stakeholder analysis

RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

In order to enable safe and efficient information transfer between health care professionals during clinical handover and escalation of care, existing communication technologies must be updated. This study aimed to provide a user-informed guide for the development of an application-based communication system (ABCS), tailored for use in patient handover and escalation of care.

METHODS

Current methods of inter-professional communication in health care along with information system needs for communication technology were identified through literature review. A focus group study was then conducted according to a topic guide developed by health innovation and safety researchers. Fifteen doctors and 11 nurses from three London hospitals participated in a mixture of homogeneous and heterogeneous sessions. The sessions were recorded and transcribed verbatim before being subjected to thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Seventeen information system needs were identified from the literature review. Participants identified six themes detailing user perceptions of current communication technology, attitudes to smartphone technology and anticipated requirements of an application produced for handover and escalation of care. Participants were in favour of an ABCS over current methods and expressed enthusiasm for a system with integrated patient information and group-messaging functions.

CONCLUSION

Despite concerns regarding confidentiality and information governance a robust guide for development and implementation of an ABCS was produced, taking input from multiple stakeholders into account. Handover and escalation of care are vital processes for patient safety and communication within these must be optimized. An ABCS for health care professionals would be a welcome innovation and may lead to improvements in patient safety.

Detection and management of the deteriorating ward patient: an evaluation of nursing practice

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

To audit ward nursing practice in the adherence to an early warning scoring protocol in the detection and initial management of the deteriorating ward patient and investigate factors that may impact on practice.

BACKGROUND

Hospital inpatients can experience unexpected physiological deterioration leading to poor outcomes and death. Although deterioration can be signalled in the patients' physiological symptoms, evidence suggests that ward staff can miss, misinterpret or mismanage the signs. Rapid response systems have been implemented to address this problem. The rapid response systems consists of two phases: the afferent phase involves monitoring the patient, recognising deterioration and referring to more expert help and the efferent phase involves expert teams assessing and treating the patient. Research has tended to concentrate on the efferent phase of the process and has so far failed to show a significant impact on patient outcome.

METHODS

Using cardiac arrest as a surrogate marker for deterioration, patient records were retrospectively reviewed during the 12 hours prior to the cardiac arrest event. Data relating to nursing practice and adherence to the early warning scoring protocol were extracted and analysed.

FINDINGS

The findings suggest that ward nurses' monitoring of patients' observations has improved compared with earlier research, but errors in early warning scoring and nonadherence to referral protocols are still a problem. A number of potentially influential factors on nursing practice were tested, but only deterioration occurring outside normal weekdays was associated with a reduced quality of nursing adherence to protocol.

CONCLUSIONS

The implementation of rapid response systems may have been an oversimplified solution to the highly complex problem of undetected patient deterioration. There are a multitude of contributory factors to the problem of noncompliance to early warning scoring protocols, and possible solutions will need to reflect the breadth, depth and complexity of the problem if we are to improve patient experience and outcome.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

An audit of nursing practice against an early warning scoring protocol based on national recommendations and standards in the recording of and response to physiological deterioration in the ward patient has shown that vital signs recording has improved, but early warning scoring accuracy and referral to more expert help remain suboptimal. By identifying areas of suboptimal practice, strategies for education and training and service development can be better informed. More in-depth evidence on factors that may impact the quality of nursing practice has been identified. Problems with rapid response systems assumptions have been highlighted, which may facilitate the implementation of more realistic solutions for managing the deteriorating ward patient.

Empowering the registered nurses of tomorrow: students' perspectives of a simulation experience for recognising and managing a deteriorating patient

BACKGROUND

Recognising and responding to patients who are deteriorating are key aspects to improving outcomes. Simulations provide students with exposure to deteriorating patient scenarios and the role of nurses in such events. The number of programmes seeking to provide best possible simulation experiences is growing exponentially. Robust evaluation of these experiences is crucial to ensure maximum benefit.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the impact of a deteriorating patient simulation experience on students' technical and communication skills; and to determine if differing study programmes and years of previous nursing experience influenced students' responses and experiences.

METHODS

A convenience sample of final year nursing students (N=57) in a medical-surgical course at a large urban university completed a descriptive pre/post simulation survey rating their technical skills and communication abilities in recognising and responding to patient deterioration. Changes in pre/post scores were analysed including influence of study programme (3-year, 2-year Enrolled Nurse, 2-year Graduate Entry); gender; and years nursing experience (beyond course clinical practicum).

RESULTS

Statistically significant improvements in post-simulation survey scores were demonstrated for combined student group data. Students with greater years of nursing experience had statistically higher scores than those with less experience in both pre- and post-surveys. Specific improvements were identified for: assessing a deteriorating patient; and in seeking help from the medical officer or external service.

CONCLUSIONS

All student groups gained benefit in participating in a deteriorating patient simulation. For this group, greater years of prior nursing experience led to higher pre- and post-survey scores. The learning activity provided students an experience of the importance of recognising and responding to an acute situation in a timely manner which may be recalled in subsequent clinical situations.