Sepsis: A Case Study

The aim of the essay is to analyse the care of a septic patient. While discussing the relevant physiological changes and the rationale for the treatment the patient received, concentrating on fluid intervention. I recognise there are other elements to the Surviving Sepsis Bundles, however due to word limitation; the focus will be on fluid intervention. The essay will be written as a Case Study format.

The aim of this assignment is to critically discuss the nursing assessment individualised care and nursing interventions of the acutely ill patient. The patient discussed developed severe sepsis due to a urinary tract infection and her condition deteriorated during the recovery process in the nurse’s care. Lovick (2009) defines sepsis ‘as a known or suspected infection accompanied by evidence of two or more of the SIRS criteria’. SIRS is outlined as a ‘systemic inflammatory response’ consisting of two or more of the following symptoms ‘temperature >38 degrees Celsius or 90 beats per minute, respiratory rates greater than 20 breaths per minute and white blood count higher than 12,000 cells per microliter or lower than 4000 cells per

Septic shock is the leading cause of death for patients in intensive care units and is the final stage in a continuum of infectious and inflammatory processes. This continuum begins with bacteremia, which is the presence of bacteria in the blood. Normally the body’s immune system can fight off a localized infection caused by a small amount of bacteria in the blood and the person will remain asymptomatic. However, a hospitalized patient could be immunocompromised, have a

Is sepsis complicated by organ dysfunction, is diagnosed in more than 750,000 patients per year and has mortality rates as high as 28%-50%.

The number of documented cases has been rising every year. “This may be due to the aging population, the increased longevity of people with chronic disease, the spread of antibiotic-resistant organisms, an upsurge in invasive procedures and broader use of immunosuppressive and chemotherapeutic agents” (National Institute of General Medical Sciences, 2014). The mortality rate for sepsis ranges from about thirty percent for patients with sepsis to fifty percent in patients who develop septic shock. Mortality rate varies as to how many organs have been affected. Twenty percent mortality for one organ failure, forty percent for two organs failing, sixty-five to seventy percent for three failed organs, and seventy-five to eighty-five percent when four or more organs have failed. The cost related to sepsis is about seventeen billion dollars per year (about twenty-two thousand dollars per patient), which is six times greater than the cost of patients without sepsis.

Sepsis is defined by the Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC) as “the presence (probable or documented) of infection together with systemic manifestations of infection” (Dellinger et al.,

There is a disease continuum with increasing severity if not treated or not responsive to treatment o Sepsis

Under the Core measures, Sepsis is one of the problem-focused trigger for systemic infection and if untreated which can lead to death. In United States, it is the 11th leading cause of death and consumes the large amount of costs about $20.3 billion in 2011 (Jones et al.,2016). According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 1.5 million people diagnosed with sepsis, and at least 250,000 patients die from that yearly (CDC, 2017). The evidence-based research revealed with results of certain pre existing conditions, pathophysiological studies, preventive measures and sepsis bundle for treating and preventing sepsis to save the life of the patients.

Sepsis is a severe complication of an inflammatory response due to various pathogens with the mortality rates ranging anywhere between twenty-five to thirty percent (Epstein, Dantes, Magill, & Fiore, 2016). Sepsis can be precipitated by various infections including some of the most common ones, like urinary tract infections, pneumonia, and cellulitis. An early sepsis recognition is crucial in improving patient outcomes and decreasing mortality rate. Thus, it is very important for a health care provider to start the necessary diagnostics and implementation of fluids, antibiotics, vasopressors and other necessary treatments based on the

Hadjiliadis, D. (2012, January 2). Septic Shock. New York Times. Retrieved November 23, 2013, from http://www.nytimes.com/health/guides/dise

et al., 2008). Sepsis is a frequent cause of admission to intensive care units (ICUs) and it

The Coalition for Sepsis Survival (C4SS) is a 501(c)(3) organization created to raise awareness among both the general public and healthcare providers and to facilitate the reduction of sepsis mortality and morbidity in the United States. The terms "coalition" and "survival" were purposefully selected to represent the core values of our vision and mission. "Coalition" underscores our philosophy to bring together hospitals, healthcare providers, and other organizations into a coordinated partnership committed to reducing the mortality and morbidity of sepsis for achieving the best outcomes and value for patient care. "Survival" represents our commitment to hospitals and clinicians to provide access to the tools and financial support for increasing a patient 's chance of survival and the best quality of life.

Thirty to 50 percent of the 400,000 to 500,000 cases of sepsis in the United States each year are fatal, emphasizing the seriousness of this public health concern [2]. Recent research into possible alternative treatment options indicates that patients being treated with statin therapy are less likely to develop sepsis from a serious infection, die from sepsis or develop serious complications due to sepsis; however, the mechanism of action is unknown and therefore is the focus of this study [2, 6, 10-12]. Possible mechanisms of action include a direct interaction of the statin with the sepsis-causing organism, an interaction between the statin and the host immune system or a combination of the two [9, 14, 16-17]. Additionally, recent studies indicate that statins may have a direct antimicrobial effect and has suggested that statins may diminish the replication and infectivity of some pathogens responsible for sepsis [11, 14, 16-17]. Thus, we hypothesized that statins could benefit septic patients by

Sepsis still represents a major cause of morbidity and mortality in critically ill patients despite the use of modern antibiotics and resuscitation therapies. There is a lack of early diagnosis and timely intervention for sepsis in the emergency department (ED), and recent interest has focused on biomarkers for early diagnosis, risk stratification, and evaluation of prognosis of sepsis.

In the study of Verani, McCracken, Arvelo, Estevez, Lopez, Reyes, Moir, Bernart, Moscoso, Gray, Olsen and Lindblade (2013), a total of 8,914 hospitalized patients