Effect of National Early Warning Scoring System Implementation on Cardiopulmonary Arrest, Unplanned ICU Admission, Emergency Surgery, and Acute Kidney Injury in an Emergency Hospital, Egypt

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of national early warning scoring system (NEWS) implementation in identifying patients at risk of clinical deterioration at an emergency hospital. BACKGROUND: Early warning score has been developed to facilitate early detection of deterioration by categorizing a patients’ severity of illness and prompting nursing staff to request a medical review at specific trigger points. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A prospective, control/intervention groups’, quasi-experimental design was utilized. A sample of 364 adult patients were admitted to the inpatient unit at an emergency hospital for six months. The patients were divided into a study group (174 patients) and a control group (190 patients). All study patients were followed up to either death or hospital discharge before and after implementing a new observation chart. The patients’ outcomes were compared and analyzed between both groups. RESULTS: In the intervention period, compared to the control period, a significant reduction was seen in the number of cardiopulmonary arrest (4.7% vs 1.1%, p = 0.046), unplanned ICU admission (5.3% vs 1.7%, p = 0.049), emergency surgery (6.3% vs 0%, p = 0.001), acute kidney injury (6.8% vs 1.1%, p = 0.006). As well, there was a significant increase in the number of patients receiving medical reviews following clinical deterioration in terms of escalation plan (3.2% vs 26.4%, p = <0.001). CONCLUSION: The implementation of NEWS was associated with a significant improvement in patients’ outcomes in hospital wards, increases in the frequency of vital signs measurements, and an increase in the number of medical reviews following clinical instability.