The Experiences of Nurses Using Rapid Response Teams

The goal of an RRT is to identify and treat patients at risk for physiologic deterioration before they go into cardiac or respiratory arrest [2]. RRTs are generally initiated by the bedside nurse and consist of a multidisciplinary team. Research has proven that RRTs are successful in decreasing hospital codes and minimizing the number of patients who necessitate transfer to units with higher acuity levels [3, 4, 5, 6]. Nursing literature shows that RRTs are also important in providing support and assistance for the bedside nurse [7,8]. Additionally, RRTs can be beneficial in improving nurse/physician communication [3, 5, 8, 9]. RRTs have also been shown to improve utilization of resources [10, 11]. Only three prior studies examine the experiences or perceptions of nurses involved in RRTs [7]. There are no studies which specifically examine American nurses experiences with RRTs