Institutional Decision to Implement
PEWS
In 2001, the hematology/oncology/bone marrow transplant
programs at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical
Center (CCHMC) were growing at the same time that the
institution made a major commitment to improving patient
safety. An institutional comprehensive patient safety program
was developed whose purpose was to identify,
evaluate, reduce, respond to, and prevent harm to patients
throughout the organization. One of CCHMC’s Patient
Safety Program’s initiatives included reducing and/or eliminating
preventable codes outside the ICU; one of the initial
6 focuses of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement
100,000 Lives Campaign (Gosfield & Reinertsen, 2005).
The PEWS was initially trialed at CCHMC on a general
medical unit. Once the test unit demonstrated improved
patient outcomes following PEWS implementation and
the algorithm was evaluated and refined, the initiative
moved to other units throughout the hospital.