Attitudes towards vital signs monitoring in the detection of clinical deterioration: scale development and survey of ward nurses.

OBJECTIVE: To develop and determine the psychometrics properties of an instrument (V-scale) and to explore nurses' attitudes towards vital signs monitoring in the detection of clinical deterioration in general wards.

DESIGN: Scale development with psychometric testing and a descriptive quantitative survey.

SETTING: Tertiary acute care hospital.

PARTICIPANTS: A total of 614 general ward nurses.

FINDINGS: Principal component analysis revealed a 16-item instrument in a five-factor solution (key indicators, knowledge, communication, workload and technology) that explained 56.27% of the variance. The internal consistency was sufficient with Cronbach's alpha of 0.71 and strong item subscale correlations (0.56-0.89). The test-retest reliability was adequate with an Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) of 0.85. Many nurses (56.9%) erroneously perceived blood pressure changes as the first indicator of deterioration, and 46% agreed that an altered respiratory rate was the least important indicator. Most nurses (59.8%) also reported relying on oxygen saturation to evaluate respiratory dysfunction, and 27.4% indicated that they make quick estimates of the respiratory rate. Current practices for vital signs monitoring were considered to be time consuming (21.0%) and overwhelming (35.3%). Nurses' attitudes were most significantly influenced by whether they had a degree qualification followed by whether they worked in a general ward with a specialty and had >5 years of experience.

CONCLUSIONS: This exploratory study provides evidence for the psychometric properties of the V-scale. It reveals a need for continuous professional development to improve ward nurses' attitudes towards vital signs monitoring. Vital signs monitoring needs to be prioritized in workload planning.