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RRS Education for Ward Staff

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Textbook of Rapid Response Systems

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Abstract

Medical, nursing and other staff working on general wards form the most important component of hospital-wide patient safety systems. In relation to patient deterioration, ward staff roles include the regular monitoring, charting and interpretation of patients’ vital signs and other clinical variables; the identification of “at-risk” and deteriorating patients; the timely administration of simple, first-line treatments; recognizing the need for additional, often more experienced help; and activating the rapid response system (RRS). Without ward staff involvement, the rapid response team (RRT) and Medical Emergency Team (MET) cannot be effective. (In this chapter, when we refer to the response team, we will use RRT to mean RRT, MET, and Critical Care Outreach Team (CCOT) – in other words, any responder team that an institution utilizes). Ward staff also provides important clinical and resource support to RRT members on the team’s arrival. Finally, if a patient remains on the general ward following a visit by the RRT, the ward staff must assume responsibility for the patient’s continuing surveillance and care.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Critical Care, Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth, PO6 3LY, UK

    Gary B. Smith

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  1. John R. Welch
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Correspondence to Gary B. Smith .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Dewey Street 125, Edgewood, 15218-1407, Pennsylvania, USA

    Michael A. DeVita

  2. Liverpool Hospital, Dept. Intensive Care, University of New South Wales, Locked Bag 7103, Liverpool, 1871, New South Wales, Australia

    Ken Hillman

  3. Dept. Intensive Care, Austin and Repatriation Medical Centre, Studley Road, Heidelberg, 3084, Victoria, Australia

    Rinaldo Bellomo

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Welch, J.R., Smith, G.B. (2011). RRS Education for Ward Staff. In: DeVita, M., Hillman, K., Bellomo, R. (eds) Textbook of Rapid Response Systems. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-92853-1_34

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-92853-1_34

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