Authors

  1. Niu, Xun PhD
  2. Tilford, Bradley MD
  3. Duffy, Elizabeth MA
  4. Kobayashi, Hitomi PhD, RN
  5. Ryan, Kelley MSN, RN
  6. Johnson, Mindi MSN, RN, CPN
  7. Page, Bethany MSN, RN, CPN
  8. Martin, Claire MSN, RN
  9. Caldwell, Rhonda BSN, RN, CPN
  10. Mahajan, Prashant MD, MPH, MBA

Abstract

Pediatric early warning scores in an emergency department may be used in routine patient evaluation of illness severity and resource allocation, thereby positively impacting quality and safety in pediatric care. This prospective nursing study assessed the feasibility and reliability of pediatric early warning scores in a busy, inner-city, level 1 trauma center pediatric emergency department. The pediatric early warning scores demonstrated high interrater reliability (degree of agreement among scorers) (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.91) and intrarater reliability (multiple repetitions by a single scorer) (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.90).