Nurses' ability to timely activate rapid response systems for deteriorating patients: A comparative case scenario study between Finnish and British nurses.

Background: Failure or delay in using rapid response system is associated with adverse patient outcomes.

Objectives: To assess nurses' ability to timely activate the rapid response system in case scenarios and to assess nurses' perceptions of the rapid response system.

Methodology/design: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted using a modified rapid response team survey.

Settings: A sample of medical/surgical registered nurses were recruited from one acute tertiary care hospital in Finland and one National Health Service acute care hospital in United Kingdom (N = 180; UK: n = 86; Finland: n = 94).

Results: The results demonstrated that in half of the case scenarios, nurses failed to activate the rapid response system on time, with no significant difference between countries. Nurses did not perceive doctor's disagreement with activation of the rapid response system to be a strong barrier for activating the rapid response system. Finnish nurses found doctor's disagreement in activating the rapid response system less important compared to British nurses.

Conclusions: The study identified gaps in nurses' knowledge in management of deteriorating patients. Nurses' management of the case scenarios was suboptimal. The findings suggest that nurses need education for timely activation of the rapid response system. Case scenarios could be beneficial for nurses' training.