@article{ref1,
title="Development of a pediatric behavioral early warning scale (PEDI-BEWS) for children",
journal="Journal of nursing measurement",
year="2023",
author="Eisenstein, Maureen and Chung, Joohyun and Domaleski, Vareen and Lantz, Susan",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="Background and Purpose: The prevention of aggressive behavior in child and adolescent inpatient settings is essential. However, it can be difficult to prompt a quick appropriate intervention without an early warning scale for the prevention and management of behavioral emergencies in a psychiatric inpatient adolescent unit. Behavioral emergencies often result in restraint/seclusion and/or administration of psychotropic medications. The objectives are to develop and evaluate the Pediatric Behavioral Early Warning Scale (Pedi-BEWS) as a screening tool to prompt quick appropriate interventions and to decrease incidents of restraint/seclusion and/or administration of psychotropic medications. <br><br>METHODS: A two-phase methodological design was applied. A total of 447 inpatients and 21 nurses were used to test internal consistency reliability and validity. <br><br>RESULTS: Receiver operating characteristic curve areas for the developed instrument were calculated to be 0.890 (Cognition), 0.959 (affect), and 0.951 (behavior). The overall Pedi-BEWS indicated high reliability (Cronbach's alpha =.98). <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: The Pedi-BEWS shows high internal consistency and validity. The use of the newly developed tool may reduce or eliminate episodes of seclusion and restraint for pediatric patients with a behavioral problem. In addition, the tool has the potential to enhance psychiatric nurses' assessment skills and competencies. The use of the newly-developed Pedi-BEWS can promote an appropriate and timely nursing assessment and intervention before the deterioration in psychiatric nursing practice.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1061-3749",
doi="10.1891/JNM-2021-0068",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1891/JNM-2021-0068"
}