The Critical Care Outreach Service (CCOS) is a nurse led service providing practical support and advice to ward nurses and doctors caring for acutely ill in patients.
CCOS nurses are all senior experienced critical care trained nurses with advanced patient assessment skills. Our service is available throughout the 24 hour period 365 days a year.
The CCOS has three principal roles
- The recognition and management of acutely ill adults on general wards.
Nurses will intermittently take your observations (blood pressure, pulse etc.) and enter your results onto an electronic monitoring system. (VitalPacs). We all use this system as a “Track and Trigger tool”, scores are allocated to your observations, and where observations are abnormal they will “trigger “, an ALERT is generated and your team are prompted to escalate your care to Senior Doctors and the CCOS. Once we receive an alert the CCOS will assess acutely ill / deteriorating patients on the ward and will then advise / support the patient’s team on monitoring, diagnostics and management plans. The overall aim is to stabilise and improve the patients at ward level, however if this is not possible the CCOS will expedite admission to Critical Care. - Supporting patients discharged from Critical Care
All patients and immediate relatives discharged from Critical Care will be supported by the CCOS. We recognise that many patients will experience physical, cognitive and psychological problems following a period of critical illness; we aim to assess and support your progress both physically and emotionally and ensure your ongoing progress. We also recognise that relatives have been through a traumatic time and make every effort to ensure they are supported too. - Education
By providing formal and informal education within the Trust we aim to improve the knowledge and skills of all members of the multi – disciplinary team caring for acutely unwell / deteriorating patients. This training occurs both at the bedside and through formal classroom teaching. We cover a range of subjects with an emphasis on the recognition and safe management of the sick deteriorating patient.
We regularly accommodate student nurses , Paramedics, Medical Students Physio’s etc.
The following courses are available
- ALERT (Acute Life Threatening Events Recognition and Treatment)
A 1 day course. Learn how to recognise and manage the sick deteriorating patient. This is a full day course with a mixture of lectures and practical scenario’s. Suitable for RGN’s Junior Dr’s. - Mandatory Oxygen Training
A short one hour lecture, covering all aspects of the safe delivery of oxygen. This course is mandatory for RGN’s and HCA’s. - Sepsis
A three hour course covering Causes recognition and management of sepsis. This course uses both lectures and short film to deliver the message. Suitable for all staff - Acute Kidney Injury (AKI)
Three hour course. Covering anatomy and physiology of the renal system. Recognition and management of AKI. Suitable for junior Dr’s and RGN’s - BEACHES (Bedside Emergency Assessment course for Healthcare Professionals)
A three hour course for HCA’s . Learn what you can do as an HCA to help recognise and manage sick deteriorating patients.
All courses can be booked via Learning and Development or the Outreach Team.