Rapid response team nurses' attitudes and barriers to the rapid response system: A multicentre survey

Background: Despite wide implementation of rapid response teams (RRTs), no published data exist on RRT nurses' attitudes and barriers to the rapid response system (RRS). Methods: We piloted a 5-point Likert-type scale questionnaire among all Finnish university hospitals' RRT nurses with optional open-ended comments. The impact of more frequent RRT participation was further investigated. Results: The response rate was 46% (n = 176/379, 34%-93% between hospitals). The respondents median experience on a RRT was three years (0.8-5) and median participation was two (1˗5) RRT activations per month. Over 90% of the RRT nurses felt that RRS prevented cardiac arrests and improved patient safety. Nurses with five or more RRT activations/month believed their critical care skills had improved through these duties (94% vs 71%, P =.001), considered their RRT work meaningful (94% vs 76%, P =.005) and wanted to continue as RRT nurses (91% vs 74%, P =.015) more often than nurses with less than five RRT activations/month. In addition to the infrequent RRT participation, further negative experiences with RRS among the RRT nurses included feeling overworked (68%) or undercompensated (94%) for the RRT duties and conflicts between RRT and ward doctors (25%). Conclusion: RRT nurses consider their work important and believe it fosters improved critical care skills; these beliefs are emphasized among those with more frequent RRT participation. Infrequent RRT participation, feeling overworked and/or undercompensated and conflicts between RRT and ward doctors may present barriers for successful RRS among RRT nurses.