Title : Nurse driven time of triage sepsis screening tool improves timely intervention in ambulatory emergency department patients with suspected sepsis
Abstract:
BACKGROUND: Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening, systemic complication of infection. Rapid intervention is critical to reduce morbidity and mortality, however early recognition of sepsis is challenging due to a highly variable and non-specific presentation. Recognition is particularly problematic in ambulatory (walk-in) patients who receive minimal to no medical attention prior to ED presentation. There is limited literature addressing sepsis intervention among the ambulatory population in the ED. Our organization has employed an electronic, nurse-driven sepsis screening tool into the triage process for all ambulatory patients who present to the ED.
METHODS: This was a retrospective, quasi-experimental study conducted from November 2015 to May 2018 in three consecutive timeframes: pre-implementation (12 months), implementation (7 months), and post-implementation (12 months). Adult ambulatory ED patients were included if they had a coded diagnosis of sepsis, septic shock, or an infectious syndrome, had fever or hypothermia and systemic inflammatory response syndrome signs on presentation. Primary outcome measure was hourly time interval to antibiotic administration from time of ED registration.
