The Implementation of A Paediatric Early Warning Tool For Use Within The Emergency Department and On Acute Paediatric Wards

Stockport NHS
NHS Foundation Trust
The Implementation of a
Paediatric Early Warning Tool for
use within the Emergency
Department and on Acute
Paediatric wards
SN Nicola Adshead
SN Raynie Thomson
Every patient
Aims:
• To introduce the concept of PEWS
• To highlight the evidence
• To demonstrate SHH approach to
choosing, implementing and evaluating
a PEWS
• To discuss the challenges
• To propose plans for the future
Stockport NHS Foundation Trust.
National Recommendations
• DH (2000) Comprehensive Critical Care: A
review of adult critical care services.
• NICE (2007) Acutely Ill Patients in Hospital:
NICE guidance
• NPSA (2007) Safer care for the acutely ill
patient: learning from serious incidents.
• CEMACH (2008) Why Children Die: A pilot
Study
• Failure to recognise
• Failure to act
An Early Warning Score is a set of
simple algorithms relating to the
findings of physiological parameters.
These parameters are given
numbers depending on the range of
severity within which they fall into,
the total number added at the end
of the observations taken is the
score given.
(Sterling 2002)
“Basic” Observations
• Respiratory rate and
Airway effort of breathing
Breathing • Oxygen saturations
• Heart rate
Circulation • Blood pressure
Disability and/or capillary refill
time
Exposure • Conscious level
• Temperature
Resuscitation Council (2005)
Meningitis Research Foundation
(2007)
NICE (2007)
Royal Collage of Nursing (2007)
Literature Review: Key Findings
• PEWS fairly new phenomenon

• Little robust evidence
• PEWS is not a modification of adult
EWS
• Limited number of validated PEWS
(especially within the ED)
• Relationship between PEWS and Critical
Care outreach teams
Benefits of PEWS
• Ensure a full set of Observations are
recorded and repeated as necessary
• Empower staff
• Aid recognition of sick/deteriorating
children
• Documented trends of patient
improvement or deterioration
• Reduce the amount of unexpected
PICU admissions.
• Reduce the number or ‘unexpected’
(undetected) Cardiorespiratory
arrests
PEWS Project Group
• Interdepartmental
• Multidisciplinary
• Representative from all paediatric

areas
Ideal SHH PEWS Tool
• Validated
• Ease of Use
• Practical
• Generic
• One Document
• Tailored to each Department
Validation
• Sensitivity
• Ability to detect disease when it is present
• true +ve
• Specificity
• Ability to identify non-disease in healthy
individuals
• true –ve
Ideal SHH PEWS Tool
• Validated
• Ease of Use
• Practical
• Generic
• One Document
• Tailored to each Department
Finding the RIGHT TOOL
• Monaghan, A (2005)
•Used in conjunction with Critical Care Outreach –
Validation in progress
• Tibbals, J et al (2005)
•Criteria for activation of a MET – No validation
• Duncan,H et al (2006)
•78% Detection of deterioration and 5% false +ve
• Haines, C et al (2006)
•Claims 100% sensitivity
• Egdell, L et al (2008)
•Sensitivity of 70% and a specificity of 90%
Implementation Decisions
• Who needs a PEWS?

• Pragmatic approach
• Who will the PEWS affect?
• Assess impact prior to introduction
• Which tool meets our needs?
• Basic assessment of physiological
parameters
Brighton Paediatric Early Warning
Score
0 1 2 3
Respiratory Within normal RR >10 above RR >20 above upper RR 5 below lower limit of
(R) parameters upper limit of limit of normal OR normal with sternal
AND normal OR Recessing OR recession, tracheal tug
No recession Accessory muscle Tracheal tug or grunting OR
or tracheal use OR 40%+ FiO2 or 6+ 50% FiO2 or 8+
tug. 30%+ FiO2 or 4+ L/min. litres/min.
L/min.
Cardiovascular Pink AND Pale OR Grey OR Grey & mottled OR
(C) Capillary refill Capillary refill 3 Capillary refill 4 capillary refill ≥5 seconds
1-2 seconds seconds seconds OR OR
Tachycardia of 20 Tachycardia of 30 above
above normal rate. normal rate OR
bradycardia.
Behaviour Playing AND Sleeping Irritable Lethargic/ confused OR
(B) Appropriate Reduced response to pain
AVPU AVPU AVPU AVPU
Score 2 extra for 1/4 hourly nebulisers, persistent vomiting following surgery
Monaghan (2005) The Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital, Brighton
Implementation
• Publicise introduction of tool
• Raise awareness
• Address any concerns
• Teaching sessions
• Use of real case studies
• Launch 1st September 2008
• Clinical Support
• Project group representatives
• Continual feed back
Initial Ambitions and the Future
Validate the tool for ED/In patient
use
Greater Manchester Children's
Network
•Development of regional PEWS tool
•Validation for DGH use
•Ensure reliability for DGH patient group
• Conduct local audit

•full sets of observations
•right children
•following the escalation pathway

Final Thought
• Improved integrated paediatric care
•Improved departmental
communications and working
relations
• Empowered staff
• Positive experience
Reference list
• Advanced Life Support Group (2008), learning Resources: Why
Treat Children Differently. ALSG. Paediatric Life Support Course:
VLE Resource Materials. UK
• DOH (2000) Comprehensive Critical Care: A review of Adult
critical care services. London UK.
• Duncan, H. Hutchingson, J. Parshuram, C. (2006) 'The Paediatric
Early Warning System Score: a severity of illness score to predict
urgent medical need in hospitalised children' Journal of Critical
Care: 21: 271-9
• Egdell, P. Finlay, L. Pedley, D. The PAWS score: validation of an
early warning scoring system for the initial assessment of children
in the emergency department Emergency Medicine Journal
25:745-749
• Haines C (2005) Acutely ill children within ward areas-care
provision and possible development strategies. British Association
of Critical Care Nurses, Nurisng in Critical Care. vol 10.(2)
• Haines C, Perrot M and Weir P (2005) Promoting care for the
acutely ill children- Development and evaluation of a Paediatric
Early Warning Tool Intensive and Critical Care Nursing. vol 22
issue 2 p73-81.
• McArthur-Rouse F (2001) Critical Care outreach services and early
warning scoring systems: a review of the Literature. Advanced
Journal of Nursing 36(5), 696-704.
• McCrossan L, Peyrasse P, Vincent L, Burgess L, Harper S (2006)
Can we Distinguish patients at risk of deterioration? Critical Care
vol 1:414.
Reference list
• Meningitis Research Foundation (2007) 'Early Management of
Meningococcal Disease in Children' (6th Edition) London. MRF.
• Monaghan A (2005) Detecting and Managing deterioration in
children. Paediatric Nursing 17.1 p32.
• NICE (2007) Acutely Ill patients in Hospital: Recognition of and
responce to acute illness in adults in hospital. London. NICE
• Resuscitation Council (UK) (2005) 'Resuscitation Guidelines.'
London. RC.
• Royal College of Nursing (2007) 'Standards for Assessing,
Measuring and Monitoring Vital Signs in Infants Children and
Young People.' London. RCN.
• Sterling C, Groba Cb.(2002) An audit of a patient-at-risk trigger
scoring system for identifying seriously ill ward patients. Nursing
in Critical Care. Vol 7, p215-219.
• Tibbals J, Kinney S, Dule T, et al.. Reduction of inpatient cardiac
arrest and death with a medical emergency team: preliminary
results. Archives of Diseases in Childhood; 90:1148–52.
• Tume L and Bullock I (2004) Early Warning Tools to identify
children at risk of deterioration: a discussion. Paediatric Nursing.
Vol 16, no 8.
The Focus Group
Emergency Department
 Paula Bennett – Nurse Consultant
 Lesley Watson – ED Paediatric Consultant
 Raynie Thomson – RN Adult
 Nicola Adshead – RN Adult
 Gemma Watkins – RN Child
 Nicola Davies – RGN
 Catherine Manion – RN Child
 Claire Williamson – RN Child
Treehouse
 Jane Kilpatrick – Nurse Clinician
 Jane Connell – Paediatric Consultant
 Natalie Cudlow – RN Child
 Karen Vernon – RN Child
 Francine Douglas – RN Child
 Janet Sidebottom – RN Child
 Paul Capey – RN Child

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Stockport NHS

NHS Foundation Trust

• PEWS fairly new phenomenon

• Representative from all paediatric

• Who needs a PEWS?

•Ensure reliability for DGH patient group

• Conduct local audit

•following the escalation pathway

• Improved integrated paediatric care

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