The two databases that I searched were the British Journal of Nursing and RCNi (Royal College of Nursing). I chose them because I wanted to focus on the actual practice of critical care nursing and knowing how to notice if a patient was deteriorating. I thought that these databases would have the most relevant articles to what I was looking for.

The first article that I found was on British Nursing Journals. “All of the articles from this database are written by nurses and are subject to review by leading authorities in the profession” (British Journal of Nursing, 2016). I thought that this would be most helpful because it is coming from someone who has actually has experience in the profession, not just someone who is doing research on it. The article that I found discussed how it is important to not only assess the five main vital signs (blood pressure, temperature, oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, and pulse) but also take into account a patient’s pain, level of consciousness, and also watch their urine output. According to Elliott and Coventry (2012), this will help the nurse to recognize that the patient is deteriorating.

The second article that I chose was from the Royal College of Nursing (RCNi). RCNi is included in a group of 11 publications by Nursing Standard and is the United Kingdom’s top selling journals (RCNi, 2016). I chose this database for the same reason that I chose the first. This particular article was written by a nurse who was observing practices in the emergency department, which was not her normal unit. She wrote about how a patient was worsening and staff failed to notice due to inexperience and the inability to assess what was going on. In order for a nurse to know a patient was getting sicker, they would have to have a knowledge of the body systems and how they all worked together to recognize the patients’ health declining (Felton, 2012).

By focusing not only on the patient and the vital signs that are on the monitor, but how the patient is presenting, and the ability to tie everything together, a nurse should be able to pick up signs that the patient is declining. This is very important in the critical care setting and something that I have to deal with every shift I work which is why I chose this topic.

References:

Elliott, M. & Coventry, A. (2012). Critical care: The eight vital signs of patient monitoring.

British Journal of Nursing. (21)10. 621-625. doi:10.12968/bjon.2012.21.10.621

Felton, M. (2012). Recognising signs and symptoms of patient deterioration. Emergency Nurse 20(8).

23-27. doi:10.7748/en2012.12.20.8.23.c9480