This report of a quality improvement project to increase use of the rapid response team resulted in more frequent rapid response activation and a nonsignificant decrease in the number of code blue events occurring outside the intensive care unit. This intervention demonstrated staff behavior change, but its effect on patient outcomes remains unclear, adding to the mixed evidence about rapid response systems.

Using case stories and direct quotes from frontline nurses, this study explores the barriers to appropriately activating rapid response teams. For example, the nurses in this study suggested that calling a rapid response is felt to only be justifiable in extreme situations rather than beforehand, which severely limits the potential effectiveness of this intervention.