title: Using an early warning system in a medical assessment unit.
abstract: Early warning systems enable staff to detect the early signs of physiological deterioration by using scoring systems for routine observations of vital signs at the bedside of acutely ill patients. MEWS, a modified early warning system, was introduced in a medical assessment unit. However, there were some issues surrounding its effectiveness - staff sometimes failed to record patients' baseline or subsequent scores, and health care assistants sometimes failed to report scores to registered nurses - highlighting the need to educate staff about the importance of both recording and acting upon MEWS scores.
authors.affiliation: St Richard's Hospital, Chichester, Royal West Sussex NHS Trust.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Palmer
mesh_terms: D003422:Critical Care / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems / Q000592:standards; D015203:Reproducibility of Results