Is there a role for patients and their relatives in escalating clinical deterioration in hospital? A systematic review.
This systematic review examined whether patient and family member activation of rapid response teams improved recognition of clinical deterioration. Studies demonstrated that patients and family members did not overwhelm rapid response capacity with frequent activations, but they did activate rapid response to convey concerns beyond clinical deterioration. The authors suggest further study is needed to determine how to best engage patients and families to detect clinical deterioration early.