Non-technical skills required to recognise and escalate patient deterioration in acute hospital settings
Abstract
Recognising patient deterioration is a vital nursing role. Observation based on vital signs and early warning scores are mandatory for all adult patients in acute hospital care and are the first steps in identifying deterioration. However, they rely on users’ understanding of the significance of the results they find and their ability to escalate to senior colleagues if necessary. This article examines the non-technical skills nurses require to recognise and escalate patient deterioration. It explores and analyses the literature on this topic and suggests there is a need for greater focus on situational awareness in nurse training and in healthcare in general, as this is linked to improved patient safety.Citation
Non-technical skills required to recognise and escalate patient deterioration in acute hospital settings, Nursing Management, 25(2) doi: 10.7748/ nm.2018.e1707Publisher
RCNiJournal
Nursing ManagementAdditional Links
https://journals.rcni.com/doi/10.7748/nm.2018.e1707Type
Journal articleLanguage
enISSN
1354-5760ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.7748/nm.2018.e1707
Scopus Count
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/