AbstractsMedical & Health Science

Establishing Inter Rater Reliability of the National Early Warning Score

by Donna Marie Miller




Institution: Walsh University
Department: Nursing
Degree: DNP
Year: 2015
Keywords: Nursing; Health care delivery; quality and evaluation; health care resources; practice patterns; early warning scoring systems
Record ID: 2057850
Full text PDF: http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=walsh1429472548


Abstract

The complexity of the health care system poses challenges to patients and staff alike. Advanced technologies and processes are designed to keep patients safe but the human aspects of care are variables to consider. Those variables can include delays in recognizing patient decompensation, miscommunication between caregivers, or failures to act. Adjuncts to care that can predict patient decompensation, clinical outcomes, and severity of illness are known as early warning scoring systems. In an effort to standardize these systems, the Royal College of Physicians established the National Early Warning Score in 2012. The purpose of this study was to establish inter rater reliability of the National Early Warning Score by comparing Registered Nurses and Patient Care Assistants practicing in a long term acute care hospital.