Roles and Responsibilities of a Registered Nurse in Detecting and Escalating Clinical Deterioration

Evidence Based Practice

Contents
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................3
Body and Analysis of the Case..................................................................................................................3
Roles and responsibilities of a registered nurse in detecting as well as escalation of clinical
deterioration in a patient..........................................................................................................................3
Explain the missed opportunities from the perspective of a Registered Nurse in the given case
regarding their provision of care, detecting clinical deterioration, escalation of care, clinical
competence, communication...................................................................................................................4
Explain the reason why Early Warning Tools, Pain assessment and documentation of pain,
communication and documentation of a patient’s medical history are important factors for provision of
safe nursing care in the field of health care..............................................................................................4
What are the limitations of Early Warning Tools and also explain their relevance and significance of
the same to practice as a registered nurse................................................................................................5
Conduct an analysis of pertinent literature in this field concepts of human factors, cognitive bias and
cognitive dissonance, teamwork and effective communication and the implications of the same on
effective decision making specifically related to this case should be addressed......................................5
Develop a synopsis of suitable strategies to risk mitigates missed opportunities for detection of
deterioration, escalation & accountability found in the case. Provide a reflection about ‘if the health
service were to work with Michael’s family what strategies could they put in place to prevent another
similar incident occurring?’.....................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
In the given case study, Michael James Calder aged 33, lived with his partner and three
young sons. As referred by his GP to the Holy Spirit Northside Private Hospital, Michael was
admitted because of a three-day history of severe occipital headaches that were continuous as
well as throbbing in nature. Besides this, he had also developed stiffness as well as pain in the
neck along with an increasing severity in his headache (Carney and et.al., 2017). The nursing
notes suggest that the patient was regularly monitored and his progress was reviewed as well as
documented. But he was found to be not responding to the medication and hence a
cardiorespiratory arrest. CPR was immediately performed but he did not respond to the same and
thus, was pronounced deceased. The death of Michael was reported to Dr. Brockett because he
was it was sudden and the cause of the same was uncertain. Dr. Adam Griffin performed an
initial review of Michael’s medical records. It is very important to keep a track on the condition
of deteriorating patients. This is because there can be changes in their condition at any time
during or after the admission of the patient (Chinn and Kramer, 2017). Registered nurses play a
vital role in providing care to the patients. Their role is to provide effective health care to the
patients who are admitted to the hospital and promote health, prevent illness as well as achieve
optimal recovery from various health problems. The respective essay is in context of the
detection of deteriorating patients with consideration to the accountability of a Registered Nurse.
There is also an analysis of the case study as well as an explanation of why Early Warning Tools,
Pain Assessment as well as documentation of pain of a patient’s medical history are important
factors for provision of safe nursing care.
Body and Analysis of the Case
Roles and responsibilities of a registered nurse in detecting as well as escalation of clinical
deterioration in a patient
A registered nurse is a nurse who has graduated from a nursing program and has also met
the requirements outlined by a country or state. In most cases, a registered nurse is a direct care
taker for the patients who are admitted in the hospital. They manage the patients’ daily activities,
medications, assessments as well as different scheduled procedures (Role of the Registered Nurse
in the Management of Rheumatic Disease, 2021). Registered nurses work closely with fellow
healthcare professionals such as physicians and other staff members to ensure that they have a