Hospital nurses and physicians' experiences practicing patient safety work to recognize deteriorating patients: a qualitative study.

Rapid response teams (RRT) are designed to quickly attend to deteriorating patients to prevent death or transfer to a higher level of care. This study sought to understand ward and RRT physicians' and nurses' perspectives on RRT and collaboration. Clinicians had a generally positive view of RRTs and appreciated the shared clinical language (eg, National Early Warning Score terminology) to quickly communicate patient information. Participants also state there can be an overreliance on the RRT; for example, if ward nurses cannot reach ward physicians, they will call the RRT for support.