Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-2017

Journal Title

Nursing Focus

Volume

50

Abstract

The international society of healthcare developed standardized guidelines for the medical management of sepsis to help battle this life-threatening healthcare problem that is directly related to high rates of mortality. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship of septic patient outcomes when early interventions when instituted within an emergency department. This retrospective cohort study on adults aged ≥ 18 years who were hospitalized with sepsis, septicemia or septic shock and had the international classification of diseases–9 [ICD-9]; 038.0- 038.9, was conducted within an emergency department of an acute care hospital located in central Illinois. It was found, that for 156 patients, the time from patient arrival to the drawing of a blood culture sample had a statistically significant effect on the outcome of the patient (p = .0265) and statistically significant difference between the mean time between patient arrival and antibiotic infusion start time from the day to the night shift (p=0.0038). Evidence supports that early recognition and intervention improves patient outcomes and shortens hospital length of stay.

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