Newly qualified Saudi nurses' ability to recognise the deteriorating child in hospital

Al-Thubaity, Daifallah; Williamson, Sue; Leavey, Ralph; Tume, Lyvonne N

Abstract

Background: It is recognized that nurses' failure to recognize and respond promptly to deterioration in children's physiological status can result in increased morbidity and mortality. Aim: The aim of this study was to explore the ability of Saudi-educated, newly qualified nurses, working in paediatric wards, to recognize children's deterioration.

Methods: A pilot study was carried out to assess nurses' responses to three clinical vignettes (deteriorating child, improving child and ambiguous scenarios). The nurses' ability to make a correct identification was captured using a 'Think Aloud' approach and quantified using a visual analogue scale.

Results: Twenty-seven nurses in two geographical regions in Saudi Arabia participated. Only half the nurses (51·8%) correctly identified the deteriorating child vignette. Of those who could not, 37% were unsure and 11% responded incorrectly. No nurses correctly identified all three vignettes, and four nurses (15%) responded incorrectly to all vignettes.

Conclusions: The recognition of the deteriorating child is complex, and even in non-stressful simulated scenarios using vignettes, many newly qualified nurses working with children failed to recognize clear signs of deterioration. A focused (culturally specific) educational intervention is being developed to target this, taking into account Saudi nurses' perceived education and training needs. Relevance to clinical practice: Newly qualified nurses working in paediatric wards frequently find it difficult to identify the deteriorating child.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 20, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Jul 13, 2018
• Publication Date: Sep 1, 2019
• Deposit Date: Apr 25, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 13, 2019
• Journal: Nursing in Critical Care
• Print ISSN: 1362-1017
• Electronic ISSN: 1478-5153
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 24
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 263-267
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/nicc.12356
• Keywords: Early recognition skills, monitoring, deterioration, paediatrics; clinical vignettes
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/872932
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/nicc.12356
• Additional Information: Additional Information : This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: [Al-Thubaity, D., Williamson, S., Leavey, R. and Tume, L. N. (2018) Newly qualified Saudi nurses' ability to recognise the deteriorating child in hospital. Nursing in Critical Care. ISSN 1478-5153 ], which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/nicc.12356. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.
• Contract Date: Apr 25, 2018