title: Teaching paediatric ward teams to recognise and manage the deteriorating child.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Issues around the deterioration of hospitalised children are known: the failure to observe and monitor patients adequately, a failure to recognise the deteriorating patient, a failure to communicative effectively within the healthcare team and a failure to respond appropriately or in a timely manner (Pearson, 2008; NPSA, 2009). In response to this, a new 1-day course called RESPOND (Recognising Signs of Paediatric hOspital iNpatients Deterioration) was developed.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To describe the development of the RESPOND course and present a preliminary evaluation of the first four courses.
  
  
  METHODS
  A written postcourse survey was completed by participants (junior doctors, medical students, nurses and health care assistants) immediately after the course and an electronic survey completed three months later in a large children's hospital in the North West of England. Data were analysed descriptively and by simple thematic analysis of free text responses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty-five participants undertook the RESPOND course over four separate days. Overwhelmingly participants found the course positive, with the most frequently cited benefit being improved multidisciplinary communication. Despite a poor response to the second survey, 18% (12 of 65) of respondents remained positive about the impact of the course.
  This preliminary evaluation combined with a reduction in hospital cardiac arrest rates suggest that the multiprofessional RESPOND course (in conjunction with an early warning tool and response system) is successful as part of a targeted strategy to promote patient safety within a children's hospital.
authors.affiliation: L N Tume, RN RSCN RNT Dip App Sci (Nurs), B Nurs, M Clin Nurs (Crit Care), PGDE, PhD, Senior Nursing Research Fellow PICU, Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust and University of Central Lancashire, Liverpool, UK.
authors.forename: Lyvonne N
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Tume
authors.forename: Gerri
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sefton
authors.forename: Pete
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Arrowsmith
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002673:Child, Hospitalized; D003422:Critical Care / Q000379:methods*; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D008297:Male; D010348:Patient Care Team; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000193:education*; D055986:Vital Signs
keywords: Critical care education; Early recognition skills; Early warning assessment tools; Interprofessional collaboration; Paediatric critical care courses; Paediatrics