Nurses are playing a vital role in saving seriously ill patients in hospital wards across Australia, according to a CQU researcher.

PhD student and registered nurse, Trudy Dwyer said that since the introduction of Medical Emergency Teams (MET) in hospitals around Australia the survival rate of patients who have arrested has improved.

"METs or 'patient-at-risk teams' have changed and expanded the role of the traditional cardiac arrest team to allow early identification, assessment and management of seriously ill patients on the wards," Ms Dwyer said.

"Studies have shown that, in the case of clinically unstable patients, early recognition and intervention by a medical emergency team reduces the incidence and mortality from unexpected cardiac arrests in hospitals.".

The system relies predominantly on the nurse making the call for action.

Ms Dwyer - in conjunction with Leanne Wall, Lynn Jamieson and Jennifer Pocock - undertook a study to look at the experiences of 48 registered nurses working in regional hospitals.

"The study found overwhelmingly that nurses viewed the introduction of the MET as a positive intervention.".

However, a theme that arose from the study was that of 'uncertainty'. Participant uncertainty existed when deciding when to make the MET call and there was associated apprehension about whether the call was made accurately.

"Our study identified that further education, accurate documentation of 'not for resuscitation' orders and debriefing following the event would further improve the MET system,” Ms Dwyer said.

Ms Dwyer has recently been awarded the best nursing paper (open section) at the 11th Queensland Combined Critical Care Meeting Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society and Australian College of Critical Care Nurses.

While completing her studies with CQU, Ms Dwyer worked part-time as a clinician in the Intensive Care Unit at the Rockhampton Hospital, in Queensland.

For further details contact Trudy Dwyer on 4930 6538 or t.dwyer@cqu.edu.au