Improving 3-Hour Sepsis Bundled Care Outcomes: Implementation of a Nurse-Driven Sepsis Protocol in the Emergency Department.

Link to article at PubMed

Related Articles

Improving 3-Hour Sepsis Bundled Care Outcomes: Implementation of a Nurse-Driven Sepsis Protocol in the Emergency Department.

J Emerg Nurs. 2019 Jun 21;:

Authors: Moore WR, Vermuelen A, Taylor R, Kihara D, Wahome E

Abstract
PROBLEM: Sepsis, a life-threatening condition, can rapidly progress to death. The Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) program has implemented bundled care metrics for sepsis care, but timely completion of these interventions is challenging. Best-practice interventions could improve patient outcomes and reimbursement. The purpose of this project was to improve the timeliness of sepsis recognition and implementation of bundled care interventions in the emergency department.
METHODS: This evidence-based practice improvement project implemented a Detect, Act, Reassess, Titrate (DART)-based nursing protocol embedded within a checklist communication tool in the emergency department of a tertiary level-2 trauma center. Data comparisons between preintervention and post-DART protocol/checklist implementation included compliance with the individual IQR 3-hour bundled elements, number of hospital days, and time to screen. Staff also completed a survey designed to assess their satisfaction with the DART algorithm/checklist. The Pearson χ2 test was used to assess bundled-care intervention variables. Wilcoxon rank sum tests were used to explore hospitalization outcomes. Staff satisfaction survey results were summarized.
RESULTS: Improvement was statistically significant for lactate levels, blood cultures, and early antibiotic administration in the intervention period compared with baseline. Time to screen, ED length of stay, and number of hospital days improved between baseline and the intervention period, with an average number of hospital days decreasing by 2.5 days. Compliance with all IQR metrics increased from 30% to 80%.
DISCUSSION: When the nurse-driven protocol and communication tool were implemented, compliance with time-sensitive sepsis bundled interventions improved significantly. The outcomes suggest nurse-driven protocols can improve sepsis outcomes.

PMID: 31235077 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *