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NEWS2

MedJot scores NEWS2 from each observation set automatically. The score is computed in one place, so the ePRF line, the reflective-practice PDF and the AI tools always agree.

The seven parameters​

  1. Respiratory rate
  2. SpO₂
  3. Air or supplemental oxygen
  4. Systolic blood pressure
  5. Pulse
  6. Consciousness (ACVPU)
  7. Temperature

No score until all seven are recorded​

If any of the seven is missing, there is no total. Not a partial score, not an estimate, not a score with the missing parameter assumed normal.

The card inside the entry modal lists exactly which parameters are still needed, so it is obvious what to do about it. This is the same rule the rest of the app runs on: a NEWS2 of 3 that silently assumed a respiratory rate you never counted is a worse artefact than no score at all.

Where the score appears​

  • In the modal footer, beside Save, updating as you type — because a score displayed below the fields that build it is off-screen exactly when it is being built.
  • Beside each parameter, as that parameter's own 0–3 contribution.
  • In the report line for the set.
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The per-row 0–3 figures and the total are styled differently on purpose. A row scoring 3 means one parameter is three points from normal — it does not mean a high-risk patient, and the colours do not pretend it does.

ACVPU, not AVPU​

The consciousness axis is ACVPU. The extra letter, C for new confusion, scores on the same axis as V, P and U.

This is deliberate and it prevents a specific error: with plain AVPU there is no way to record "alert but newly confused", and NEWS2 has no answer for that combination. ACVPU makes the correct entry available.

Scale 1 and Scale 2​

NEWS2 has two SpO₂ scales. Scale 2 is for patients with confirmed hypercapnic respiratory failure, where a lower target saturation is appropriate.

The scale is chosen once per report, not per set, because it is a property of the patient. Every set recorded for that patient is scored against it.

You can set it in two places:

  • the Observations section header, and
  • the NEWS2 card inside the observation set modal.

Both do the same thing. The scale switch is offered inside the modal because whether a patient retains CO₂ is usually realised while looking at their saturations, not before opening the form.

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Changing the scale from inside the modal applies immediately and is not undone by Cancel. It is a fact about the patient, not an edit to whichever set happens to be open.

Scale 2 is always named in the report​

NEWS2 8 (Scale 2)

An 8 on the hypercapnic scale is a different clinical claim from an 8 on Scale 1, and a line pasted into an ePRF has no other way of saying so. Scale 1 goes unmarked, as the default.

Oxygen flow rate does not affect the score​

NEWS2 asks only whether the patient is on air or on supplemental oxygen. The flow rate you record is documentation — it appears in the text alongside the SpO₂ but contributes nothing to the total.

What NEWS2 is not​

It is an early warning score, not a triage decision and not a disposition. MedJot computes and records it; what it means for this patient is yours.