Sepsis is a serious condition that can occur in any nursing specialty and requires timely interventions to prevent worse outcomes or death. The author implemented a sepsis handoff tool for nurses to improve communication and ensure all necessary vital checks, labs, treatments, and bundles were addressed for septic patients within appropriate timeframes. The author would present this work at the annual sepsis conference held by the Sepsis Alliance Clinical Community to share their experiences improving sepsis management, or in the Journal on Quality and Patient Safety which focuses on patient safety through quality improvement strategies like standardized handoff tools.
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In nursing, there are certain specialties in which you might see
a disease process more than others. Sepsis, however, knows no
speciality. It unfortunately can be found in any area of nursing.
Recognizing, notifying and implementing quality care to
patients with an admitting, new or suspected diagnosis of sepsis
is crucial. Time is tissue with septic patients. They have the
capability of going south quickly. Working in the ICU, I believe
I have had more septic patients than any other admitting
diagnosis. They need interventions implemented within an
appropriate time frame to prevent poorer outcomes or death.
Lack of communication is a reason why some interventions are
not completed or are not fully disclosed leaving the receiving
nurse confused as to what is still to be done during sepsis
protocols. My project was to implemented a sepsis handoff tool
that was to be filled out by nurses to keep up to date on vitals,
labs, interventions, blood cultures, fluid resuscitation &
vasopressor support, antibiotics as well as the three and six
hour bundles.
A conference I would want to present this information to would
be a conference within the Sepsis Alliance Clinical Community
(SACC). Each year, SACC holds an annual sepsis conference
with national and international speakers. The intention of such
conference is to share experiences and evidence on variouds
issues related to sepsis. This conference is to improve the
awareness and diagnosis of sepsis as well as how to manage it.
A journal I would present my topic in would be the "Journal on
Quality and Patient Safety" by the Joint Commission. This
professional journal focuses on patients safety by implementing
quality improvement strategies. It quite often has chapters based
off communication, whether using the SBAR technique or
handoff tools.