Table 2. Participants and sampling methods for consensus development of the MEWS chart.

Research activity	Sampling method	Inclusion criteria	Respondents/Participants (n = 12*)	Rationale
Consensusdevelopment ofthe MEWS	Purposivesampling	Medical experts in clinicalphysiology and health sciencesresearch (including CCNs)and senior	1 PhD specialist anaesthesiologist 1 PhD emergencymedicine specialist with experience in implementinga triage early warning scoring (TEWS) inCape Town	A mixed panel of expertsrepresents the diversity foundon a ward who are all
		ward nurses with expertise in	2 Critical care nurses/lecturers with a Master’s degree	involved in bedside
		bedside monitoring	6 ‘head’ nurses – I from each of the researchsurgical wards;	monitoring to some extent
			1 surgical nurse operational manager¥
			1 surgical nurse clinical educator
			*1 PhD neurosurgeon

Note on table:

^*The neurosurgeon who had been fully informed of the study from its inception was included as a replacement for the emergency medicine specialist in Round 5.

^¥The surgical nurse clinical educator participated in all consensus rounds but replaced one surgical head nurse after Round 1.

The Head of the Department of Surgery was fully informed of the study from its inception but was not available to participate in the consensus rounds.