The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is a tool that was developed to identify and chart possible changes or deterioration in a patient's level of consciousness and their neurological status. In 2014, the GCS marked its 40th anniversary, and further guidance was provided to assist healthcare practitioners with performing this assessment. This article discusses essential aspects of this guidance to enable healthcare practitioners to optimise GCS observations and their interpretation.
Nursing Standard. doi: 10.7748/ns.2017.e10189
Correspondence Peer reviewThis article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software
Received: 15 June 2015
Accepted: 09 August 2016
Published online: 17 April 2017
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