Recording clinical observations at Central Manchester NHS Foundation Trust. A guide for agency nursing staff.

1. Recording clinical observations at Central Manchester NHS Foundation Trust. A guide for agency nursing staff. Identifying sick patients. Monitoring physiological parameters is essential in the early identification of acute illness. The Early Warning Scoring System (EWS) was developed with the aim of providing a simple scoring system which could be readily applied by nurses and doctors to help identify patient becoming acutely unwell. Patientrack: making the EWS work. Patient is an electronic bedside observation system that is being used across the adult trust. All observation that you perform will be recorded via an electronic handheld device (not on a paper TPR chart). The device then calculates the EWS and bleeps the appropriate personnel (as per EWS Policy). This ensure the patient is reviewed by the most appropriately experienced and skilled individual. Using Patientrack. Before you can use Patientrack you must be competent in performing clinical observations. You will then need a username and password to access the system. This can be obtained via IM&T Helpdesk (ext. 2020 or via Switchboard out of hours) or the Acute Care Team (ext. 11703). If you experience any problems at all using the device report to the nurse in charge. 1. Touchscreen PDA Device 2. How to switch the PDA device on 3. To access Patientrack click the blue square 4. Log in to the device 5. Click menu button. Select appropriate ward/ patient. 6. Select ‘New’ to input a set of observations. Remember to scroll down the list to input all required parameters. Or seler ‘Review chart’ view the most recent observation chart. 7.Once you have finished using the device press ‘logout’ then store the device in the agreed secure area.