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Updated: Apr 5, 2026
A Novel Digital Platform for a Monitored Home-based Cardiac Rehabilitation Program
Published on: April 19, 2019
Strengthening the afferent limb of rapid response systems: an educational intervention using web-based learning for
Sok Ying Liaw1, Lai Fun Wong1, Sophia Bee Leng Ang2
1Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Background:
The timely recognition and response to patients with clinical deteriorations constitute the afferent limb failure of a rapid response system (RRS). This area is a persistent problem in acute healthcare settings worldwide. In this study, we evaluated the effect of an educational programme on improving the nurses' knowledge and performances in recognising and responding to clinical deterioration.
Method:
The interactive web-based programme addressed three areas: (1) early detection of changes in vital signs; (2) performance of nursing assessment and interventions using airway, breathing, circulation, disability and expose/examine and (3) reporting clinical deterioration using identity, situation, background, assessment and recommendation. Sixty-seven registered nurses participated in the randomised control study. The experimental group underwent a 3 h programme while the control group received no intervention. Pretests and post-tests, a mannequin-based assessment and a multiple-choice knowledge questionnaire were conducted. We evaluated the participants' performances in assessing, managing and reporting the deterioration of a patient using a validated performance tool.
Results:
A significantly higher number of nurses from the experimental group than the control group monitored respiratory rates (48.2% vs 25%, p<0.05) and pulse rates (74.3% vs 37.5%, p<0.01) in the simulated environment, after the intervention. The post-test mean scores of the experimental group was significantly higher than the control group for knowledge (21.29 vs 18.28, p<0.001), performance in assessing and managing clinical deterioration (25.83 vs 19.50, p<0.001) and reporting clinical deterioration (12.83 vs 10.97, p<0.001).
Conclusions:
A web-based educational programme developed for hospital nurses to strengthen the afferent limb of the RRS significantly increased their knowledge and performances in assessing, managing and reporting clinical deterioration.
