Marjon Borgert

29 Standardized measurement of the Modified Early Warning Score Ϯ ϭ ZetrosƉective DEt^ ш ϯ Eurse DEt^ ш ϯ PŚLJsician notiĨied Figure 2. Time spans ‘presence of delay’. Time span 1, re ects the presence of delay between a registered critical MEWS by the nurse and the noti cation of the physician. According to the protocol, the physician should be noti ed immediately. Time span 2, re ects the theoretical ‘window of recognition’. This is based upon registered vital signs and a retrospectively calculated critical MEWS. Thus, the critical MEWS could be derived by nurses and indicates the rst moment at which the patient should be identi ed according to their vital signs. RESULTS Demographics Due to logistical issues, the haematology/oncology unit, randomized as a control ward, dropped out of the study. According to the exclusion criteria 5752 measurements were excluded from analysis. In total, 372 patients were included on the protocolized wards (3585 measurements) and 432 patients (3013 measurements) on the control wards (Table 1). Of the patients 49% (394/804) were male; the mean age was 56.7 years (SD 17.7) and 1% (11/804) of the patients died during their hospital stay. Table 1. Demographics of patients who were hospitalized during the seven-day period at the end of each of the three study months. Protocolized wards Control wards Patients during the three study weeks, % (n/N) 46 (372/804) 54 (432/804) Age in years, mean (SD) 55.0 (17.7) 58.3 (17.6) Gender (male), % (n/N) 56 (207/372) 43 (187/432) LOHS a (days), median (IQR) 10 (6 - 20) 8 (5 - 10) Died during hospital stay, % (n/N) 2 (7/372) 1 (4/432) a LOHS, length of hospital stay