Nurse-Led Medical Emergency Teams: A Recipe for Success in Community Hospitals

Abstract

Nurses can lead MET responses. Special tools may be necessary to make them most effective, including communication pathways, treatment protocols, specialized training in crisis response skills, physician chain of command documentation, and post-event debriefing of involved staff to improve patient care. The outcomes of nurse-led MET programs and physician-led MET programs are similar, and no hospital should refuse to implement METs simply because no physician is available to respond. Indeed, nursing brings a unique perspective to the leadership role in a MET process. Experience, instinct, determination, and a spirit of collaboration with the nurse at the bedside are attributes that can sustain a MET process and over time can change the environment of the facility.