Improving Sepsis Bundle Compliance in the Emergency Department

Authors

Meredith Burkhart, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

Date of Graduation

4-2021

Document Type

Project

Keywords

sepsis, emergency department, code sepsis, hour-1

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Degree Level

Graduate

Advisor/Mentor

Anna Jarrett

Committee Member

Susan Patton

Abstract

Sepsis is one of the leading causes of death in hospitals across the nation. It is also the costliest condition a patient can be admitted to the hospital for. This proposal discussed the significance of sepsis in the local, national, and international level. It also covered the SEP-1 guidelines given by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. Prior to project implementation, the clinical site had at least one sepsis bundle fall out every month, meaning that a portion of the SEP-1 guideline was not met. This project introduced an alert system for the emergency department to respond to patients with sepsis faster and allow for staff to implement all aspects of the sepsis bundle. A process improvement project was proposed as a result of a needs assessment revealing the need for an improvement in caring for patients with sepsis in the emergency department. A review of literature was conducted to analyze the impact of a code sepsis, sepsis screening tools, and the hour-1 sepsis bundle. Kurt Lewin’s Change Theory was identified as the underlying theoretical framework for project implementation. The research design detailed the following components: sample, setting, reliability, validity of study instruments, and data collection methods. The proposed Doctor of Nursing Practice project’s goal was to decrease sepsis bundle fallouts, decrease readmission rates due to sepsis, decrease mortality, and decrease length of stay in the hospital.

Citation

Burkhart, M. (2021). Improving Sepsis Bundle Compliance in the Emergency Department. The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Student Works. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/nursstudent/14