The Importance Of Nursing Students Regarding The Recognition And Treatment Of Sepsis

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.

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

Discuss the cascade of host inflammatory responses that produce the major detrimental effects seen in sepsis due to gram-negative bacteria.

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

I prepare the case study with different scenario for nursing diagnosis to take place under varied situations mainly to disseminate the knowledge to stimulate critical thinking on code sepsis. The evaluation of teaching and learning will be conducted through questionnaire at the end of the day, as nurses find their own time to go through the case study for assimilation by means of reading references or discussion with colleagues. Periodical reminder for benefits of revision on subjects which are vital in patient safety and care will help nurses to accustomed to practice. The encouragement and feedback will render change in practice. In case of Sepsis, the clinical nurses are responsible in prevention of infection by means of hand hygiene, wound care, caring chronic conditions, prevention of Hospital acquired infections and communication to respective physicians. Patient education play the key role in inpatient as well at home with following the facts in identifying and seeking medical attention at once. The clinical educator is not only responsible for teaching in the unit but also act as patient navigator in educating the patients in preparation of reading materials and providing the guidelines and

Sepsis is a life-threatening and potentially fatal condition caused by the body’s reaction to an infection. Sepsis occurs when chemicals normally released in the bloodstream to fight infection trigger inflammation throughout the body. This can result in damage to multiple organs, which can cause organ damage and, in some cases, death.

The progress of my project to develop a nurse driven sepsis screening tool and an algorithm for implementation on the intensive care unit (ICU) for early identification and prompt treatment of septic patients has progressed remarkably well. I have been productive in gathering current guidelines for sepsis with the aid of my preceptor who is a critical care nurse practitioner on the ICU. With his help, I have been able to assemble key pieces of research to create a sepsis screening tool, and a treatment algorithm with sepsis resuscitation bundles. Extensive research has been conducted to integrate evidence-based practice in my project. I have also spent time with the unit educator, critical care intensivists, and my colleagues in brainstorming and collecting ideas about my project.

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

I believe it’s important to the Science of Nursing because early recognition will prevent organ dysfunction which can lead to death. In some cases, the SSC recommended Early Goal Directed Therapy (EGDT) based on patient presentation, vital sign and lab studies. The EGDT bundles consist of early Intravenous Fluid (IV) resuscitation and IV broad spectrum antibiotics should be given within three hours of serum lactate. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), it’s documented from 1999-2014, a total of 2,470,666 deaths were associated with sepsis (CDC, 2016). After reading the CDC fact sheet, my conclusion is that most of the sepsis cases that the EGDT bundle was not initiated on time (six hour compliance) due to early recognition of signs and symptoms presented upon arrival and the lack of communication between team members which delayed EGDT greater than six hour window. From the studies that I have read, the Surviving Sepsis Campaign

A methodical search was undertaken of the databases – PubMed, CINAHL and ScienceDirect to ascertain the most appropriate evidence. Search terms used were “Sepsis Prevention”, “Sepsis Management” “Sepsis Early Recognition” and “Sepsis Detection” and merged using Boolean Logic (Glasper and Rees,

Therefore, the skills obtained from education will assist the nurses to monitor and detect if the patient is suffering from sepsis. From that observation, the nurse can decide to initiate the established sepsis protocol. Educational intervention will provide nurses with skills that can help them to detect sepsis through clinical signs and laboratory values. Once this evaluation has been done, nurses will use their knowledge to administer appropriate therapy in the early stages of sepsis, and it greatly influences the patient

Sepsis is defined as the body’s inflammatory response to an infection and can quickly lead to multiple organ failure and death. Early, goal-directed therapy using the sepsis resuscitation bundle introduced in the “Surviving Sepsis Campaign” is the treatment used throughout the world for sepsis treatment (Winterbottom 2012, pp 247). There are approximately one million cases of sepsis in the United States annually and deaths total more than prostate cancer, breast cancer, and HIV/AIDS combined. Also, more than one-fourth of patients that develop sepsis will develop it on a medical-surgical unit and severe sepsis is the most common cause of

Sepsis is currently associated with a mortality rate of 30 to 50 percent – which is considered very high. With such a high mortality rate, the medical research community must invest time, money and effort into finding a way to increase survivability of Sepsis. Investigation and research needs to be performed on human patients to look for ways to reduce the inflammation associated with Sepsis; this will allow medical teams time to treat the associated