Nursing Assignment: Deterioration, Arrest, and Mortality

This nursing assignment examines the critical issue of patient deterioration and its impact on cardiopulmonary arrest and mortality rates. The report highlights the significance of effective communication among nursing staff, doctors, and clinicians in recognizing subtle changes in patients' health conditions. It emphasizes the importance of regular monitoring of vital signs and the use of specialized equipment and early warning systems to facilitate timely interventions. The assignment also addresses factors contributing to the failure of hospital staff in recognizing patient deterioration, such as inadequate communication, lack of access to equipment, and nurse-to-patient ratios. Ultimately, the report concludes that a proactive approach involving continuous monitoring, effective communication, and appropriate clinical skills is essential for preventing cardiopulmonary arrest and improving patient outcomes. The report also highlights the importance of training and the use of early warning systems to improve patient outcomes.

Running head:NURSING ASSIGNMENT
Nursing assignment
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

1
NURSING ASSIGNMENT
This assignment demonstrates the reasons due to which the nursing staff and is not able
to recognize the condition of a deteriorating patient in preventing cardiopulmonary arrest and
reducing mortality. This is because of poor communication skills between the staff members and
also when an emergency situation is not responded in a proper manner (Beitler et al., 2011).
The ability of the nursing staff in responding and recognizing the signs and symptoms of
patient deterioration in a proper manner plays a crucial role in the improvement of the health
condition in patients. It results in a reduction of morbidity and mortality of patients. Respiratory
rate and the rate of heart beat are the two most important parameters that should be monitored in
a regular manner during cardiopulmonary arrest. It is important for the hospital staff to be aware
of subtle changes in the status of health condition of the patients through proper measurement of
vital signs (Santamaria, Tobin & Holmes, 2010). There are times when the nurses recognize ill
health of patients through intuition as well. They should have knowledge about the medical
history of the patients. Nursing staff should be properly trained and must have appropriate
clinical skills that would enable them to recognize and prevent the chances of cardiopulmonary
arrest in patients thus reducing the chances of mortality (Bellomo et al., 2011). The usage of
specialized equipments also influences the ability of nurses to recognize the deterioration of the
patient in a timely manner. When the condition of the health of a patient is detected early, it
empowers the doctors and the clinicians to incorporate interventions in an effective manner
(Konrad et al., 2010).
There are several causes that lead to the failure of the hospital staff in recognizing
deterioration of the patient condition. This is due to a lack of proper communication between the
nursing staff and other health care professionals including doctors and clinicians. There are times
when the nurses in the ward do not have proper access to equipments and skills required to be

2
NURSING ASSIGNMENT
used in an emergency situation such as cardiopulmonary arrest. There is a decrease in the
number of nurse: patient ratios which lead to issues in recognizing the health condition of the
patient (Chan et al., 2010).
Early warning systems are quite effective in preventing the number of deaths by
monitoring the health condition of patients. They are used widely used to track the deteriorating
condition and response of the patient by the critical care teams. The use of these systems was
demonstrated by the critical care educators and proper training was provided to improve the
condition of deteriorating patients (Kim et al., 2010).
Hence, it can be concluded that the nursing staff along with other health care
professionals including the doctors and the clinicians should have proper communication among
them. They should actively monitor the condition of the deteriorating patient which would help
in preventing cardiopulmonary arrest and reduce the rate of mortality. The hospital staff should
be dedicated enough to respond to abnormal signs and symptoms of the patients.

3
NURSING ASSIGNMENT
References
Beitler, J. R., Link, N., Bails, D. B., Hurdle, K., & Chong, D. H. (2011). Reduction in hospital-
wide mortality after implementation of a rapid response team: a long-term cohort study.
Critical Care, 15(6), R269. Retrieved from
https://ccforum.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/cc10547
Bellomo, R., Bailey, M., Eastwood, G. M., Nichol, A., Pilcher, D., Hart, G. K., ... & Cooper, J.
D. (2011). Arterial hyperoxia and in-hospital mortality after resuscitation from cardiac
arrest. Critical care, 15(2), R90. Retrieved from
https://ccforum.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/cc10090
Chan, P. S., Jain, R., Nallmothu, B. K., Berg, R. A., & Sasson, C. (2010). Rapid response teams:
a systematic review and meta-analysis. Archives of internal medicine, 170(1), 18-26. Doi:
10.1001/archinternmed.2009.424
Kim, Y. M., Yim, H. W., Jeong, S. H., Klem, M. L., & Callaway, C. W. (2012). Does therapeutic
hypothermia benefit adult cardiac arrest patients presenting with non-shockable initial
rhythms?: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized and non-randomized
studies. Resuscitation, 83(2), 188-196. doi:10.1016/j.resuscitation.2011.07.031.
Konrad, D., Jäderling, G., Bell, M., Granath, F., Ekbom, A., & Martling, C. R. (2010). Reducing
in-hospital cardiac arrests and hospital mortality by introducing a medical emergency
team. Intensive care medicine, 36(1), 100-106. doi:10.1007/s00134-009-1634-x

4
NURSING ASSIGNMENT
Santamaria, J., Tobin, A., & Holmes, J. (2010). Changing cardiac arrest and hospital mortality
rates through a medical emergency team takes time and constant review. Critical care
medicine, 38(2), 445-450. doi: 10.1097/CCM.0b013e3181cb0ff1.