Key result
A literature review of 33 articles identified that long shift hours, staffing levels, missed vital signs, lack of training, and communication impact nurses' ability to recognize early warning signs.
Why the study?
Inconsistent recognition and response by non-critical care nurses to patient clinical deterioration lead to increased length of hospital stay, unexpected ICU admissions, and increased morbidity and mortality.
Nurse staffing, training, and communication are key factors impacting the recognition of early warning signs in hospitalized patients.
Introduction: Monitoring vital signs is a basic indicator of a patient’s health status and allows prompt detection of delayed recovery or adverse effects and early intervention. Patients with adverse events during hospitalization often display clinical decline for several hours before the event is observed. Non-critical care Nurses’ inconsistent recognition and response to patient deterioration lead to an increase in the length of hospital stay, unexpected admissions to the ICU, and increased morbidity and mortality. Aim: The study aimed to assess the factors that facilitate or impede the detection of early warning signs among adult patients hospitalized in tertiary care settings. Training should be provided to improve nurses’ knowledge, practice and attitude toward early warning signs of deteriorating patients leading to enhanced clinical judgment, skills and decision-making in addressing alerts. Methodology: A literature search was carried out in various databases; these were Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINHAL), Google Scholar, PubMed, Science Direct, and Sage. The search area was narrowed from 2017 to 2022. The keywords used were “prevalence” AND “unplanned ICU admission”, “the importance of early warning signs” “outcome failure in rescue” “patient deterioration, communication” “improvement in early detection” AND “patient outcome admission” AND “early warning signs” AND “Pakistan”. After the analysis process, around 33 articles that met the inclusion criteria and were most relevant to the scope and context of the current study were considered. Conclusion: Most of the studies had reviewed literature in a qualitative retrospective observational study, content analysis, mixed method, and quasi-experimental study. The literature review identified that long hours of shift, nurse staffing levels, missed vital signs, lack of nursing training and education, and communication impact nurses’ ability to recognize and respond to early warning signs.
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Samani et al. (2023) conducted a review in Patient deterioration (n=33). Factors affecting detection of early warning signs was evaluated on Factors impacting nurses' ability to recognize and respond to early warning signs. A literature review of 33 articles identified that long shift hours, staffing levels, missed vital signs, lack of training, and communication impact nurses' ability to recognize early warning signs.
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