Code Team

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Hi everyone! Looking to get input from people who have a dedicated code team at their facility.Where I work, the code team consists of residents/an attending, a pharmacist, the lead RT, and then a nurse from cardiac ICU and a nurse from medical ICU. In the ICUs, nurses that have been trained to take the code/rapid response pager rotate carrying it. So you show up for your shift and are told you have the code pager that day. But you also still have an ICU assignment, that in the event of a code, you have to run away from at a moment's notice while quickly finding someone to watch your patients. As a new ICU nurse, I'm terrified of having to carry the pager in the future, and still managing my patients. I've talked with some more senior employees who have also mentioned that a dedicated code team would be helpful and safer. So, if your hospital has such a thing, please enlighten me! Who is on the team? What do they do in between responding to codes? Any other feedback or tidbits of information would be great. Thanks so much!

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RRT nurse?

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I wonder how those dedicated code teams would spend the time when there is no code. I mean, hopefully there won't be non stop codes. I can not imagine that a regular hospital would pay a code team to hang out while waiting for the code to happen???

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In my level 1 center, we have two charge nurses in ICU. One of them runs codes on the floors or rapid response.

In the meantime, they help out around the unit, it works fine. A lot to handle if you have to run a code and you have your own patients. Not safe.

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That was my question as well-what happens when there isn't a code...aka most of the shift! We also have a resource type nurse on for the hospital so it would make sense for them to carry the code pager since they don't have a patient assignment. But most of the time they're helping out by taking a patient to CT or MRI so again not something they could just run away from for a code.

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Specializes in Medical-Surgical/Float Pool/Stepdown.

My facility started a "STAT RN" position about three years ago. Our STAT nurses have to be very proficient in either ICU or ED nursing and only a very select few were chosen to fill the role. It is a full time role aka twelve hour shifts just like the rest of the hospital floor nurses work. One STAT RN per shift.

The STAT responds to all codes and in the meantime is a resource for difficult IV starts, trouble-shooting declining Pt's, and helping with procedures that are not done often or just random things the floor nurses would like a second set of eyes for (helping both floor and ICU/ED staff).

We initially started out with having the STAT nurse to go with certain Pt's to scans (especially ones requiring sedation) and stuff like that but quickly found that it wasn't safe or conducive to the role because the STAT would end up needing to leave the Pt to go to any codes etc.

If a Pt needs a higher level of care the STAT RN also often comes to stay with the Pt and initiates ICU/Stepdown orders until the Pt is safely transferred to the appropriate floor whether the Pt had coded or was just declining and was "up-graded".

I love or STAT nurses and don't see why we let the madness go on for as long as we did before instituting the role. Before we did something similar where an ICU/ED nurse would come to all codes that shift and often would be leaving their own set of Pt's to fend for themselves - which makes no sense what so ever!

Codes still work the same at my hospital. Depending on what type of code is called will get the appropriate people to the bedside pretty quickly, difference is now we may sometimes be a head of the game and the STAT nurse is already there helping the floor staff support the Pt better.

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Specializes in ICU.

Our code team is pretty much the same as yours - except the nurses that are the RRT nurses that night don't have assignments. They usually just resource on the unit that night and go to rapid responses/codes. In times of extreme short staffing, the team leader/unit leader carries the rapid response pager, but never anybody with an assignment.

Who carries the pager rotates. We don't have dedicated RRT people.

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My facility started a "STAT RN" position about three years ago. Our STAT nurses have to be very proficient in either ICU or ED nursing and only a very select few were chosen to fill the role. It is a full time role aka twelve hour shifts just like the rest of the hospital floor nurses work. One STAT RN per shift.

The STAT responds to all codes and in the meantime is a resource for difficult IV starts, trouble-shooting declining Pt's, and helping with procedures that are not done often or just random things the floor nurses would like a second set of eyes for (helping both floor and ICU/ED staff).

We initially started out with having the STAT nurse to go with certain Pt's to scans (especially ones requiring sedation) and stuff like that but quickly found that it wasn't safe or conducive to the role because the STAT would end up needing to leave the Pt to go to any codes etc.

If a Pt needs a higher level of care the STAT RN also often comes to stay with the Pt and initiates ICU/Stepdown orders until the Pt is safely transferred to the appropriate floor whether the Pt had coded or was just declining and was "up-graded".

I love or STAT nurses and don't see why we let the madness go on for as long as we did before instituting the role. Before we did something similar where an ICU/ED nurse would come to all codes that shift and often would be leaving their own set of Pt's to fend for themselves - which makes no sense what so ever!

Codes still work the same at my hospital. Depending on what type of code is called will get the appropriate people to the bedside pretty quickly, difference is now we may sometimes be a head of the game and the STAT nurse is already there helping the floor staff support the Pt better.

In one hospital I worked it they implemented STAT nurses with good results. However, while they also stroll to a code they have a variety of other responsibilities and if they are for example transporting a patient from ICU to CT or such they can not just leave to attend a code.

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Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.

The ICU charge RNs respond to codes where I work, along with the RR RN. Bedside ICU RNs, never. Of course when the ICU charge has a pt assignment. .... :no:

But yeah, I work in an urban level 1 trauma center, and it's a rare thing to even hear two codes called per shift. However I seem to remember a member here who works full time as a RR RN, who posted what he and the team actually do all shift. Maybe do a search on here for "rapid response" and see if you can find it?

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I haven't heard of any hospital with a dedicated code team comprised of individuals waiting for a code to happen like firemen waiting for a fire to respond to at the fire house. To utilize staff as such would be a waste of resources.

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Specializes in ER, Trauma, Med-Surg/Tele, LTC.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but since we're on the topic of code teams...

Based on everyone's experiences, about what percentage of code teams consist of only ICU RNs versus ICU or ER RNs?

Just wondering because I went to an interview once where they looked at me like I was alien when I said I didn't respond to inpatient codes as an ER nurse as if it was a deficiency on my part instead of attributing it to the simple fact that it is not how our hospital structures its code team.

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My hospital's ICU charge nurse is the RN responder for a code blue. They are also available to come evaluate if you're not at the point of a code blue but you're concerned about your patient's status and want another (perhaps more experienced and trained) pair of eyes.

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