NEWS2 Early Warning Score

Health care providers (HCP) routinely monitor specific physiological parameters (i.e., vital signs) that reflect a patient’s health status. Changes in these parameters may indicate that:

• A patient’s health status is deteriorating.
• Additional monitoring, diagnostic testing and/or treatment is required.

Sometimes these changes can be very subtle; other times they are not.

The NEWS2 tool is a standardized tool that helps to identify these changes and provides guidance to the health care provider on frequency of monitoring and how to escalate care in alignment with patient-specific goals of care.

The six simple physiological parameters that form the basis of the NEWS2 scoring system are:

1. Respiration rate
2. Oxygen saturation
3. Systolic blood pressure
4. Pulse rate
5. Level of consciousness or new confusion
6. Temperature

A score is given to each of these parameters as they are measured, with the magnitude of the score reflecting how extremely the parameter varies from normal (i.e., stable health status).

This is a practical approach, with a key emphasis on system-wide standardization and the use of physiological parameters that are already routinely measured in our hospitals, that will be recorded on a standardized form in the health record. Local hospital teams will develop response plans for escalation in care, based on their models of care and resources.

Forms

This course provides an overview of the National Early Warning Score (NEWS2) for clinicians in the acute care setting. 

By the end of this course, learners will be able to:

• Describe the benefits of NEWS2
• List the main ways in which NEWS2 is to be used
• Know the 6 parameters included with NEWS2
• Describe the NEWS2 system, thresholds and triggers
• Accurately record and score parameters
• Perform NEWS2 calculation
• Demonstrate correct use of NEWS2 and associated clinical responses

Resources can be found on SharePoint:

NOTE Only those with permission can access this SharePoint page.