The following chapter is an account of the available literature on the transport of acutely unwell and critically ill patients. It will begin by outlining the search strategy used to obtain the literature in this review. The literature review will present the history of patient transport, with a focus on the adverse effects suffered by patients. It will then present the need for specialty trained staff to undertake critical care transportation. Finally it will present how the role of nursing can be expanded in order to develop nurse-led IHT services to meet the needs of patients without compromising patient safety.
2.2 Search Strategy In order to identify relevant publications, a literature search was conducted using CINAHL, PubMed …show more content…
The study compared the AEs suffered by patients who were transferred by a specialist retrieval team supplied by the receiving hospital and a non-specialist team provided by the referring hospital. The study showed that the patients transferred by the non-specialist teams were more susceptible to AEs that had a negative impact on their care. The data collected from this study demonstrated that non-specialist teams who undertook IHTs had a 4.5% increase of deaths observed within the first 6 hours of admission to the receiving hospital as opposed to specialist teams which only had 0.6% observed deaths. In addition, non-specialist teams’ patients were 11% more likely to be severely acidotic upon arrival and 50% more likely to be severely hypotensive as opposed to only 3% on patients who were transported by specialist teams. The differences in values led the researchers to conclude that the increased knowledge and expertise of specialist teams pointed to a decrease in the AEs suffered by patients and improved discharge outcomes of patients. Thus, this research supported the need for of specialist teams when transferring critically ill …show more content…
The guidelines, as set out by the ICS (2011), recommend that patients who require IHT receive the same level of care as if they were still within the hospital setting. Therefore the accompanying personnel must be specially trained medical professionals that are able to anticipate and address acute changes in care needs while on transport (Warren et al, 2004; ICS, 2011). Unfortunately at present in the UK, there are limitations within the current NHS system and, while specialist teams are well built up within the paediatric and neonatal areas, the adult population remains behind and therefore the current guidelines as set out by the ICS (2011) are not followed. This compromises patient safety and leads to negative impact on care
2.2 Search Strategy In order to identify relevant publications, a literature search was conducted using CINAHL, PubMed …show more content…
The study compared the AEs suffered by patients who were transferred by a specialist retrieval team supplied by the receiving hospital and a non-specialist team provided by the referring hospital. The study showed that the patients transferred by the non-specialist teams were more susceptible to AEs that had a negative impact on their care. The data collected from this study demonstrated that non-specialist teams who undertook IHTs had a 4.5% increase of deaths observed within the first 6 hours of admission to the receiving hospital as opposed to specialist teams which only had 0.6% observed deaths. In addition, non-specialist teams’ patients were 11% more likely to be severely acidotic upon arrival and 50% more likely to be severely hypotensive as opposed to only 3% on patients who were transported by specialist teams. The differences in values led the researchers to conclude that the increased knowledge and expertise of specialist teams pointed to a decrease in the AEs suffered by patients and improved discharge outcomes of patients. Thus, this research supported the need for of specialist teams when transferring critically ill …show more content…
The guidelines, as set out by the ICS (2011), recommend that patients who require IHT receive the same level of care as if they were still within the hospital setting. Therefore the accompanying personnel must be specially trained medical professionals that are able to anticipate and address acute changes in care needs while on transport (Warren et al, 2004; ICS, 2011). Unfortunately at present in the UK, there are limitations within the current NHS system and, while specialist teams are well built up within the paediatric and neonatal areas, the adult population remains behind and therefore the current guidelines as set out by the ICS (2011) are not followed. This compromises patient safety and leads to negative impact on care