Practical aspects of performing Glasgow Coma Scale observations
Intended for healthcare professionals
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Practical aspects of performing Glasgow Coma Scale observations

Catheryne Waterhouse Clinical educator, neurology intensive care unit, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, England

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. 31, 35, 40-46. doi: 10.7748/ns.2017.e10189

Correspondence

cath.waterhouse@sth.nhs.uk

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

Conflict of interest

None declared

Received: 15 June 2015

Accepted: 09 August 2016

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