What critical vital signs would institute a rapid response

Nurses Safety

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I'm still a little foggy as to what would be a signal to cal a RR obviously if pt looks in distress but what critical sbp? Pulse, o2, rr.. Thanks!

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

You can't always go by "just" numbers. You have to use your critical thinking too and oh yeah, the patients presentation. The most important thing.

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There should be orders ie call physician if sbp>____ or HR>____ etc so you call before it gets critical

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You also have to take into account each patient's "normal" vitals. A SBP of 88 might be okay for a healthy, thin 22 year old. But for an obese 50 something year old who smokes, a systolic blood pressure of 88 would be "abnormal" If his normal was 140 to 150.

We also call a rapid response for new onset of seizures or altered LOC.

Staff members are also strongly encouraged to activate the rapid response if they have any concerns regarding a change in a patient's condition or that gut feeling that something just isn't right.

And I'm a firm believer that calling a rapid response and having it end up nothing is way better then ignoring symptoms and the situation turning into a code.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

each facility has their own protocol for activation of the RRT.....these are some standards.

heart rate: 40130 beats/min

systolic blood pressure:

respiratory rate: 828 per min

pulse oximetry reading:

urine output:

conscious state.

This is a nice resource from the ICSI[h=3]Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement[/h]......https://www.icsi.org/_asset/8snj28/RRT-Interactive0711.pdf

THe AHRQ......Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality( we have a AHRQ forum....https://allnurses.com/ahrq-effective-health/) also has some great resources.National Guideline Clearinghouse |

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Specializes in Trauma Surgical ICU.

It is not as easy as just a number as mentioned previously. Is this new, what is the pts norm, did you just give BP meds, came back from surgery and still waking up. Many times it is facility based as when to call..What is your facilities policy re this.. Look it up, or ask.

I am one of the RR nurses at my facility and we have a policy with numbers to call for, new onset CP etc or simply because a pt has you concerned.. You may be able to call the RR nurse and talk to them; education is part of what we do. I can say, we are always willing to help. I have had several shifts the charge nurse or the floor nurse would call just to ask a question..Many times we would come over and take a look but we are free meaning we don't take pts when we are RR. It may be different in your facility.

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Assess the patient first before anything else...

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Specializes in Psych.

As others have said each facility has their own guidelines, and sometimes even when we have followed the guidelines I have had to defend why we called one.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Transplant, Education.

We call it MET (Medical Emergency Team) at my facility...but the criteria are similar to what others have mentioned. However, I wouldn't arbitrarily call rapid based on a vital sign number. You need to assess the patient. I work on a hepatobiliary/GI medsurg/transplant floor...many of my liver patients walk around with SBPs in the low to middle 80s and are totally fine. We also can call if we just feel something isn't right...family members/visitors can also call MET at my facility.

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It's not just having a checklist of numbers, because if that's all you go on, when somebody asks you, "Didn't you think that when the BP dropped over six hours from 180 systolic to 104 systolic with no changes in medication that something had to be going on?" you won't have a better answer than, "Well, our BP for calling RRT is

I know that new grads in particular don't want to rock the boat, don't want to look dumb, and don't want to call RRT and get embarrassed. They are too close to the student clinical checklist mentality and not experienced enough to have good enough assessment skills to have good judgment yet. Always ask for a second opinion from a more experienced nurse if you see trends developing.

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Specializes in Emergency & Trauma/Adult ICU.

You can discuss this with your preceptor (even if your formal orientation is over), your unit educator or another nurse mentor on your unit to get more meaningful discussion.

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Specializes in ICU, Geriatrics, Float Pool.

I would take a look at my patient before calling a RR. Some people are just peachy at 82/55 while others will be going down the drain.

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