Table 1

 Responses to “Survey of nurses attitudes to the MET”*

Strongly disagreeDisagreeUncertainAgreeStrongly agree
MET, medical emergency team.
*Numbers within columns indicate the percentage of overall responses for each option in the Likert agreement scale. (n) Indicates the number of respondents who completed the corresponding question.
1. Patients in the hospital have complex medical problems (n = 347)0.32.01.434.961.4
2. The MET prevents unwell patients from having an arrest (n = 350)0.64.63.738.053.1
3. The MET allows me to seek help for my patients when I am worried about them (n = 349)00.91.728.768.8
4. The MET is not helpful in managing sick patients on the ward (n = 350)49.138.94.64.62.9
5. When one of my patients is sick I call the covering doctor before calling a MET (n = 343)1.79.017.258.014.0
6. If I cannot contact the covering doctor about my sick patient I call a MET (n = 345)1.76.410.747.833.3
7. I am reluctant to call a MET on my patients because I will be criticised if they are not that unwell (n = 350)35.446.38.38.02.0
8. MET calls are required because the management of the patient by the doctors has been inadequate (n = 350)16.648.016.315.43.7
9. MET calls are required because the management of the patient by the nurses has been inadequate (n = 351)38.248.76.64.81.7
10. I would call a MET on a patient I am worried about even if their vitals signs are normal (n = 351)1.119.423.641.914.0
11. I think that the MET is overused in the management of hospital patients (n = 350)43.442.99.72.91.1
12. I don’t like calling MET because I will be criticised for not looking after my patient well enough (n = 350)51.444.03.10.90.6
13. MET calls reduce my skills in managing sick patients (n = 351)51.043.63.40.91.1
14. Using the MET system increases my work load when caring for a sick patient (n = 351)39.944.46.68.30.9
15. The MET can be used to prevent a minor problem from becoming a major problem (n = 347)1.42.63.237.555.3
16. If my patient fulfils the listed MET criteria but does not look unwell I would not make a MET call (n = 349)22.139.522.613.82.0
17. MET calls teach me how to better manage sick patients in my ward (n = 350)2.912.014.353.717.1