Research Paper on:
Implementing A Rapid Response Team In A Hospital

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
called and arrives at the patients bed. Other code blue team members include the bedside nurse, a respiratory tech, a pharmacist and a lab technician. At this time, any respiratory  tech who is available responds. This is true for both the pharmacist and the lab technician. The proposal is to establish a Rapid Response Team that would be coordinated and  led by the Charge Nurse in the Medical intensive care department, a pulmonologist, a cardiologist and a Hospitalist or Intensivist, all of whom are already on staff. The justification for  this proposal is provided in the following pages. In brief, Rapid Response Teams have saved lives. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement explains that a Rapid Response Team, which is also  called a Medical Emergency Team, is a team of clinicians who bring critical care expertise to the patient bedside (or wherever it is needed" (IHI, Getting, 2005). The Institute also  explains such teams are needed because people die unnecessarily in hospitals every day (IHI, Getting, 2005). A number of studies have revealed that patients who die very often exhibited some  signs and symptoms of their physiological instability prior to dying (IHI, Getting, 2005). There may have been signs of respiratory deterioration, for instance (IHI, Getting, 2005). Those signs may have  been as long as 8 hours prior to dying (IHI, Getting, 2005). Had additional services been provided, the patient would not have died. Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis wanted to  reduce the mortality rate and established a Rapid Response Team to do so (Haraden and Rutherford, 2004). This team is comprised of "an experienced ICU nurse, a respiratory therapist, and  an intensivist, when available" (Haraden and Rutherford, 2004). The team is always available, 24/7, to act quickly (Haraden and Rutherford, 2004). In fact, they arrive at the patients bed within