Rapid Response Team In Nursing

Rapid response teams (RRTs) are a vital component to any healthcare institution. An RRT is a team consisting of various healthcare professionals trained to respond to medical emergencies within a hospital. In most hospitals, the RRT is made up of a critical care nurse, a respiratory therapist and a nursing supervisor. However, in some facilities, the RRT also includes a doctor or physician’s assistant and a pharmacist, as long as they are able to respond to the page immediately (Advanced Cardiac Life Support Certification Institute, 2017). It is important that the members of an RRT have varied expertise and knowledge, and are able to recognize the early symptoms of various conditions, like heart attack or stroke, so that they are able to assess and treat the patient correctly, based on these symptoms. Rapid response teams are in place so that, if a patient’s health begins to rapidly deteriorate, the nurses can call for a rapid response and the team will be able to deliver critical care to the patient, at their bedside, within minutes. The main goal of an RRT is to prevent the situation from worsening to cardiac arrest or death (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality [AHRQ], 2017). Patients …show more content…
Some examples from the list of criteria include “heart rate over 140/min or less than 40/min, respiratory rate over 28/min or less than 8/min, and systolic blood pressure greater than 180 mmHg or less than 90 mmHg” (AHRQ, 2017, p. 1). The AHRQ (2017) also gives a list of additional criteria, like a threatened airway or seizure, that are used at some institutions that require a call the RRT as well (AHRQ, 2017). Some facilities also allow the patients as well as their family members to call the RRT, but it is normally the nursing staff that will call, to prevent unnecessary rapid response