Description
By the end of the course, candidates will be able to:
- Discuss legal and professional responsibilities associated with carrying out observations with local and national guidance
- Follow procedures for consenting and correct documentation
- Explain what vital signs are and their significance in patient care
- Describe the correct procedures for monitoring vital signs
- Explain what sepsis is, describe its different stages and identify which patients might be at risk
- Identify factors that will indicate the presence of sepsis
- List the six elements of early management of sepsis
- Identify how to respond to sepsis within their own setting
- Describe what NEWS is and discuss its use
- Demonstrate the correct use of a NEWS chart and explain the range of resulting clinical responses
Course content
- Legal and professional considerations and responsibilities
- Consent for care and treatment
- What are vital signs
- Rationale for monitoring vital signs
- Heart rate
- Respiratory rate
- Body temperature
- Blood pressure
- Pulse oximetry
- Background to sepsis
- What is sepsis?
- Who is at risk?
- Systematic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS)
- Stages of sepsis
- Recognising sepsis
- Review of systems
- Making the diagnosis
- Infections precipitating sepsis
- Red flag sepsis
- Amber flag
- The ‘Sepsis Six’ actions
- Background to National Early Warning Score (NEWS)
- What is the NEWS?
- NEWS updated to NEWS2
- Why do we need the NEWS?
- Considerations
- The 6 physiological parameters + supplementary oxygen
- Understanding the meaning of the scores
- Calculating scores
- NEWS and sepsis
- Clinical response
- Trigger thresholds
- Communicating – SBAR
- Principles of Nursing Practice
