Children and Youth at Risk of Clinical Deterioration (PEWS)

This course was developed for Child Health BC in partnership with New Knowledge and Innovation at BC Children’s Hospital.

The aim of Child Health BC is to support you in providing services to children in your clinical setting, whether you are an experienced nurse in a pediatric acute care setting, or a rural emergency department nurse who cares for a few children. We are excited that you are going to build on your current foundation competencies and learn about the assessment, recognition and documentation of pediatric patients at risk of clinical deterioration.

By the end of this course you will be able to:
• Identify normal and abnormal assessment data for pediatric patients at risk of deterioration
• Apply knowledge related to the pediatric patient at risk of deterioration through case scenarios
• Demonstrate appropriate use of the PEWS system focusing on PEWS scoring
• Describe other components the PEWS system including situation awareness (unusual therapy, watcher patient, patient/family/caregiver concern and communication breakdown).
• Describe how to identify, mitigate, and escalate care for a deteriorating child
• Describe supports within your organization to assist in providing care for the deteriorating child
• Demonstrate appropriate use of a sepsis screening tool and identify nursing actions in response to findings from sepsis screening
• Locate and access pediatric specific guidelines and protocols