Barriers to Nurses Activating the Rapid Response Team

The purpose of this study was to identify barriers to nurses activating the [Rapid Response Team]. Previous studies have inconsistently identified barriers to nurses activating the RRT. This inconclusive information supports the need to further investigate. This study is supported by Ida Jean Orlando's deliberative nursing process. The process was used to understand the motivation of nurses to identify their patient's immediate needs and taking action to meet those needs for help. In this quantitative, nonexperimental, cross-sectional study, a convenience sample of nurses was surveyed from two Northwestern Pennsylvania hospitals. Nurses identified barriers to activating the RRT as increased workload, not activate the RRT when a patient meets activation criteria or activate the RRT when a patient does not meet RRT activation criteria but the nurse is worried, contacting or attempting to contact the attending or covering physician before activating the RRT, need for additional or expanded educational opportunities, team communication during and after the RRT, and a hospital where the culture is not supportive of RRT activation.