Adult inpatient general wards in a large acute care hospital trust Not Applicable
Conditions
Interventions
This is a retrospective observational study using routinely collected data on ward and shift level nurse staffing, vital signs observation and patient outcomes.
Sponsors
University of Southampton
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: All adult inpatients in general wards of a large acute care hospital within a period of 6 months will be included. Data for the study will be derived from a database of records made using the VitalPAC system, which enables nurses to record clinical data on hand held devices at the bedside. We will also use data from the Patient Administration System (PAS) and hospital laboratory records to determine rates of mortality and to adjust for patient level variation in risk. E-rostering (available from 2012 onwards) will provide workforce data from approximately 100,000 shifts available for the study.
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: All adult inpatients in general wards will be included. ITU, maternity and paediatric units are not considered.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Missed vital signs observations. A missed observation is defined as an observation that is not performed before the next observation is due. The planned frequency of observations is determined from a national protocol based on NEWS values, which identifies risk of adverse outcome. | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| 1. Rate of missed observations in high risk sub-groups, defined by elevated NEWS score 2. Absolute delay (time from observation becoming due until an observation is taken) 3. Relative delay (time from observation becoming due until an observation is taken expressed as a proportion of the scheduled observation frequency in minutes) 4. Deaths 5. Cardiac arrests 6. Unanticipated ICU admissions 7. Records of other assessments in electronic vital signs system | — |
Countries
England, United Kingdom
Outcome results
None listed