Background: Registered nurses (RNs) play a significant role in detecting patients at high risk of deteriorating in healthcare settings. Despite that, the inefficiency of RNs to escalate deteriorating patients seeking healthcare services in outpatient units by alerting the associate nurse unit manager (ANUM) or Medical Officer (DR), calls for the implementation of a patient safety initiative such as the afferent limb of a rapid response system (RRS). The literature asserts that as a patient safety initiative, created to warrant early recognition and care of deteriorating patients the afferent limb has universal interest.  This led to the following question: 

Þ   Question: Will implementing an afferent limb of a RRS in an outpatient healthcare setting improve nurses’ clinical performance, judgement and communication, to be able to recognise and care for deteriorating patients?