scholarly journals Impact of Intensive Care Unit Readmissions on Patient Outcomes and the Evaluation of the National Early Warning Score to Prevent Readmissions: Literature Review

10.2196/13782 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. e13782
Author(s):  
Heidi Mcneill ◽  
Saif Khairat

Background Intensive care unit (ICU) readmissions have been shown to increase a patient’s in-hospital mortality and length of stay (LOS). Despite this, no methods have been set in place to prevent readmissions from occurring. Objective The aim of this literature review was to evaluate the impact of ICU readmission on patient outcomes and to evaluate the effect of using a risk stratification tool, the National Early Warning Score (NEWS), on ICU readmissions. Methods A database search was performed on PubMed, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Google Scholar, and ProQuest. In the initial search, 2028 articles were retrieved; after inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, 12 articles were ultimately used in this literature review. Results This literature review found that patients readmitted to the ICU have an increased mortality rate and LOS at the hospital. The sample sizes in the reviewed studies ranged from 158 to 745,187 patients. Readmissions were most commonly associated with respiratory issues about 18% to 59% of the time. The NEWS has been shown to detect early clinical deterioration in a patient within 24 hours of transfer, with a 95% CI of 0.89 to 0.94 (P<.001), a sensitivity of 93.6% , and a specificity of 82.2%. Conclusions ICU readmissions are associated with worse patient outcomes, including hospital mortality and increased LOS. Without the use of an objective screening tool, the provider has been solely responsible for the decision of patient transfer. Assessment with the NEWS could be helpful in decreasing the frequency of inappropriate transfers and ultimately ICU readmission.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi Mcneill ◽  
Saif Khairat

BACKGROUND Intensive care unit (ICU) readmissions have been shown to increase a patient’s in-hospital mortality and length of stay (LOS). Despite this, no methods have been set in place to prevent readmissions from occurring. OBJECTIVE The aim of this literature review was to evaluate the impact of ICU readmission on patient outcomes and to evaluate the effect of using a risk stratification tool, the National Early Warning Score (NEWS), on ICU readmissions. METHODS A database search was performed on PubMed, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Google Scholar, and ProQuest. In the initial search, 2028 articles were retrieved; after inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, 12 articles were ultimately used in this literature review. RESULTS This literature review found that patients readmitted to the ICU have an increased mortality rate and LOS at the hospital. The sample sizes in the reviewed studies ranged from 158 to 745,187 patients. Readmissions were most commonly associated with respiratory issues about 18% to 59% of the time. The NEWS has been shown to detect early clinical deterioration in a patient within 24 hours of transfer, with a 95% CI of 0.89 to 0.94 (<i>P</i>&lt;.001), a sensitivity of 93.6% , and a specificity of 82.2%. CONCLUSIONS ICU readmissions are associated with worse patient outcomes, including hospital mortality and increased LOS. Without the use of an objective screening tool, the provider has been solely responsible for the decision of patient transfer. Assessment with the NEWS could be helpful in decreasing the frequency of inappropriate transfers and ultimately ICU readmission.


2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 324-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wang Chang Yuan ◽  
Cao Tao ◽  
Zhu Dan Dan ◽  
Sun Chang Yi ◽  
Wang Jing ◽  
...  

Background: For critical patients in resuscitation room, the early prediction of potential risk and rapid evaluation of disease progression would help physicians with timely treatment, leading to improved outcome. In this study, it focused on the application of National Early Warning Score on predicting prognosis and conditions of patients in resuscitation room. The National Early Warning Score was compared with the Modified Early Warning Score) and the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II. Objectives: To assess the significance of NEWS for predicting prognosis and evaluating conditions of patients in resuscitation rooms. Methods: A total of 621 consecutive cases from resuscitation room of Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University were included during June 2015 to January 2016. All cases were prospectively evaluated with Modified Early Warning Score, National Early Warning Score, and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II and then followed up for 28 days. For the prognosis prediction, the cases were divided into death group and survival group. The Modified Early Warning Score, National Early Warning Score, and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II results of the two groups were compared. In addition, receiver operating characteristic curves were plotted. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves were calculated for assessing and predicting intensive care unit admission and 28-day mortality. Results: For the prognosis prediction, in death group, the National Early Warning Score (9.50 ± 3.08), Modified Early Warning Score (4.87 ± 2.49), and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score (23.29 ± 5.31) were significantly higher than National Early Warning Score (5.29 ± 3.13), Modified Early Warning Score (3.02 ± 1.93), and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score (13.22 ± 6.39) in survival group ( p < 0.01). For the disease progression evaluation, the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves of National Early Warning Score, Modified Early Warning Score, and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II were 0.760, 0.729, and 0.817 ( p < 0.05), respectively, for predicting intensive care unit admission; they were 0.827, 0.723, and 0.883, respectively, for predicting 28-day mortality. The comparison of the three systems was significant ( p < 0.05). Conclusion: The performance of National Early Warning Score for predicting intensive care unit admission and 28-day mortality was inferior than Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II but superior than Modified Early Warning Score. It was able to rapidly predict prognosis and evaluate disease progression of critical patients in resuscitation room.


2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 238-242
Author(s):  
Cheryl Gagne ◽  
Susan Fetzer

Background Unplanned admissions of patients to intensive care units from medical-surgical units often result from failure to recognize clinical deterioration. The early warning score is a clinical decision support tool for nurse surveillance but must be communicated to nurses and implemented appropriately. A communication process including collaboration with experienced intensive care unit nurses may reduce unplanned transfers. Objective To determine the impact of an early warning score communication bundle on medical-surgical transfers to the intensive care unit, rapid response team calls, and morbidity of patients upon intensive care unit transfer. Methods After an early warning score was electronically embedded into medical records, a communication bundle including notification of and telephone collaboration between medical-surgical and intensive care unit nurses was implemented. Data were collected 3 months before and 21 months after implementation. Results Rapid response team calls increased nonsignificantly during the study period (from 6.47 to 8.29 per 1000 patient-days). Rapid response team calls for patients with early warning scores greater than 4 declined (from 2.04 to 1.77 per 1000 patient-days). Intensive care unit admissions of patients after rapid response team calls significantly declined (P = .03), as did admissions of patients with early warning scores greater than 4 (P = .01), suggesting that earlier intervention for patient deterioration occurred. Documented reassessment response time declined significantly to 28 minutes (P = .002). Conclusion Electronic surveillance and collaboration with experienced intensive care unit nurses may improve care, control costs, and save lives. Critical care nurses have a role in coaching and guiding less experienced nurses.


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