Nurses: The first and last line of defence for not only patients but physicians as well

摘要

On June 1,2012, several London newspapers, including the Independent and the Guardian, reported the findings of the British National Confidential Enquiry Into Patient Outcomes and Death (NCEPOD) concerning the deaths of acutely ill patients who had a cardiac arrest while in hospital. The Independent focused on that part of the report dealing with the general assessment of warning signs prior to cardiac arrest, the Guardian on that part dealing with the appropriateness of resuscitation. The Independent (Edgar, 2012) reported that the inquiry found that more than 38 percent of the cardiac arrests could have been avoided if the junior physicians had assessed the situation and responded in a timely manner, that warning signs were not picked up in 35 percent of the patients, that these were not acted upon in 56 percent, and that junior doctors had not communicated with senior doctors in 55 percent.