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The Effect of Pediatric Early Warning Score Use on Emergency Response Calls After Admission From the Pediatric
Melissa Nan Frascogna1, Eric Merkle, Kristin Dowdy
1From the University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS.
Insights
Implementing Pediatric Early Warning Scores (PEWS) upon hospital admission reduced emergency response calls by 55% within six hours. This study highlights PEWS as an effective tool for improving pediatric patient safety and outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Emergency Medicine
- Clinical Assessment Tools
- Patient Safety
Background:
- Pediatric Early Warning Scores (PEWS) are utilized for patient evaluation.
- The effectiveness of PEWS in reducing critical events in pediatric emergency departments (PEDs) requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the impact of implementing PEWS on emergency response calls within six hours of admission.
- To determine if PEWS can decrease the incidence of critical events in a pediatric population.
Main Methods:
- A retrospective chart review was conducted.
- Data were collected for six months before and after PEWS implementation in an urban, tertiary care PED.
- The primary outcome measured was the rate of emergency response calls within six hours of inpatient admission.
Main Results:
- The rate of emergency response calls within six hours of admission decreased from 1.77% to 0.79%.
- This represents a 55% reduction in emergency response calls after PEWS implementation (P = 0.0070).
Conclusions:
- Implementing PEWS at the time of hospital admission from the PED is associated with a significant reduction in emergency response calls.
- PEWS may serve as a valuable tool for enhancing patient safety and preventing adverse events in the pediatric population.
Objectives:
Pediatric Early Warning Scores (PEWS) are an easy-to-use diagnostic tool for patient evaluation. The goal of this study was to determine if using PEWS in our pediatric emergency department (PED) at the time of admission to the hospital was associated with a decrease in the number of emergency response calls within 6 hours of admission.
Methods:
A retrospective chart review of 6 months before (May 2013-October 2013) and after (December 2013-May 2014) initiation of PEWS upon inpatient admission from our urban, tertiary care PED was conducted to determine the number of patients who had emergency response calls within 6 hours of admission.
Results:
The percentage of patients admitted from the PED who required an emergency response call within 6 hours of admission dropped from 1.77% in the 6 months before assigning PEWS to 0.79% in the 6 months after, a 55% reduction (P = 0.0070).
Conclusions:
Assigning PEWS to patients being admitted to our hospital from the PED was associated with a reduced number of emergency response calls in the period immediately after admission.
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