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The Nurse’s View of RRS

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Textbook of Rapid Response Systems

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Abstract

Rapid response teams (RRTs) have been introduced in hospitals worldwide in order to address the issue of patients’ deterioration not being recognised or appropriately managed. Nurses are a key factor in the effective utilisation of these systems, so their acceptance and participation are vital. This chapter explores how nurses value rapid response systems, the complexity of the RRS process and the subsequent problems that nurses might face when caring for deteriorating patients on the general wards.

While there has been a marked improvement in vital sign recording over the years, there is evidence that there still remains a problem with the activation of RRTs when the patient breaches early warning scoring thresholds. Reasons for this are explored and demonstrate the difficulty of multidisciplinary team working in a complex social organisation such as healthcare. Suggestions to improve nurse engagement and compliance are discussed, which include issues to do with hierarchy, hospital culture and communication.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, London Rd, Reading, Berks, RG1 5AN, UK

    Mandy Odell RN, MA, PGDip, PhD

  2. Nursing Education & Research, UPMC Shadyside, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Nicolette Mininni BSN, RN, MEd, CCRN

  3. Austin Hospital, Studley Road, Heidelberg, VIC, 3084, Australia

    Donna Goldsmith RN, PGCert & Dip, MN, PhD

Authors
  1. Mandy Odell RN, MA, PGDip, PhD
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  2. Nicolette Mininni BSN, RN, MEd, CCRN
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  3. Donna Goldsmith RN, PGCert & Dip, MN, PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mandy Odell RN, MA, PGDip, PhD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Critical Care, Harlem Hospital Center, New York, New York, USA

    Michael A. DeVita

  2. The Simpson Centre for Health Services Research, South Western Sydney Clinical School, UNSW Sydney, the Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research and Intensive Care, Liverpool Hospital, Liverpool BC, New South Wales, Australia

    Ken Hillman

  3. Department of Intensive Care, Austin Hospital, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia

    Rinaldo Bellomo

  4. Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom

    Mandy Odell

  5. Intensive Care Unit, Austin Hospital, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia

    Daryl A. Jones

  6. Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

    Bradford D. Winters

  7. Department of Anesthesia, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, USA

    Geoffrey K. Lighthall

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© 2017 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Odell, M., Mininni, N., Goldsmith, D. (2017). The Nurse’s View of RRS. In: DeVita, M., et al. Textbook of Rapid Response Systems. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39391-9_30

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39391-9_30

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-39389-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-39391-9

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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