Just one occurrence of respiratory rate above 27 breaths per minute over a 72-hour period is a predictor of cardiac arrest in hospital wards2 and nearly 440,000 preventable deaths every year in the United States are attributable to failure to rescue by a registered nurse or physician3. Every measurement counts, however it isn’t easy to achieve across a growing and more complex patient population. A recent survey of general care nurses found that many find vitals measurement time consuming and overwhelming and respiratory rate was the only parameter recorded less the 50% of the time4.
References
1. Mok, W et al. Attitudes towards vital signs monitoring in the detection of clinical deterioration: scale development and survey of ward nurses. Int J Qual Health Care (2015) 27 (3): 207-213.
2. Fieselmann JF, Hendryx MS, Helms CM, et al. Respiratory rate predicts cardiopulmonary arrest for internal medicine patients. J Gen Intern Med 1993; 8: 354-360.
3. HealthGrades, Inc: Third Annual Patient Safety in American Hospitals Study. April 2006
4. Hogan, J. Respiratory assessment. Why don't nurses monitor the respiratory rates of patients? British Journal of Nursing, 15(9) 489–492.
5. Mok, W et al. Attitudes towards vital signs monitoring in the detection of clinical deterioration: scale development and survey of ward nurses. Int J Qual Health Care (2015) 27 (3): 207-213.
6. Christmas, A. el al. Trauma Intensive Care Unit ‘Bouncebacks’: Identifying Risk Factors for Unexpected Return Admission to the Intensive Care Unit. The American Surgeon, Volume 80, Number 8, August 2014, pp. 778-782(5)
7. Schein, RM, el al. Clinical antecedents to in-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest. Chest 1990; 98: 1388-92
8. Subbe, C.P., Duller, B. & Bellomo, R. Crit Care (2017) 21: 52. doi:10.1186/s13054-017-1635-z
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