THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PEDIATRIC EARLY WARNING SYSTEM (PEWS) MENTORING FOR NURSES AND PATIENT SAFETY IN THE PEDIATRIC WARD

Abstract

Background: Pediatric inpatients possess fragile, dynamic physiological reserves, rendering them susceptible to rapid acute clinical deterioration. Although the Pediatric Early Warning System (PEWS) provides a validated standardized bedside triage algorithm, poor nurse compliance and mechanical charting without escalation undermine patient safety. Systematic clinical mentoring serves as a targeted managerial strategy to bridge the gap between protocol knowledge and clinical bedside execution.

Objective: To analyze the relationship between clinical mentoring in PEWS implementation for staff nurses and perceived patient safety in the Pediatric Inpatient Ward of Sumber Glagah Hospital, Mojokerto. Methods: This quantitative correlational study utilized a cross-sectional ward-unit aggregate approach conducted in 2026. The study recruited all 22 staff nurses managing a 17-bed pediatric unit and 100 parents of hospitalized pediatric patients selected via total sampling. Primary data were gathered using validated PEWS mentoring questionnaires for nurses and patient safety questionnaires for parents. Data were analyzed via contingency cross-tabulation and Fisher's Exact Test.

Results: The vast majority of nurses perceived PEWS implementation mentoring as good (90.9%, n = 20), while 9.1% (n = 2) perceived it as lacking. Correspondingly, 85.0% of parents (n = 85) perceived inpatient care as safe, while 15.0% (n = 15) perceived it as less safe. Bivariate cross-tabulation demonstrated that under good nursing mentoring, 82.0% of care cases were appraised as safe, whereas suboptimal mentoring correlated with an increased proportion of less safe appraisals (7.0%). Fisher's Exact Test yielded a statistically significant association (p = 0.001, p < 0.05).

Conclusion: Adequate clinical mentoring in PEWS implementation significantly enhances patient safety perceptions in the pediatric care ward. Hospital leadership must sustain continuous bedside coaching and formative audits to prevent deviation normalization and maintain pediatric clinical vigilance.