Date of Graduation

12-2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science in Nursing

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

Nursing

Advisor/Mentor

Smith-Blair, Nancy J

Committee Member/Reader

Gentry, Jacklyn

Committee Member/Third Reader

Ganio, Matthew S.

Abstract

Introduction: Septicemia is a severe disease affecting our healthcare system. A local hospital implemented a treatment protocol based on recent national standards to better treat this condition. The purpose of this study was to see if this protocol had any effect on patient outcomes in key variables. Methods: Pre and post design with pre-implementation (of the treatment protocol) sample group being all patients admitted to the Emergency Department (ED) at the test hospital with initial diagnosis of sepsis from May - October of 2012 while the post sample group was all patients admitted to the ED at the test hospital with initial diagnosis of sepsis from May - October of 2013. Patients in the post-implementation group received treatment as per the protocol. Data was obtained through hospital electronic medical records. Results: The null hypothesis of no difference in key variables between groups failed to be rejected by all but one statistical test. There was no statistically significant difference between groups in all variables but mortality relating to group - showing that mortality significantly reduced in the post-implementation group. Recommendations: The study hospital should do the following - further analysis over a longer length of time, improve staff education, along with identifying and implementing methods of reducing overall antibiotic administration time and time spent in the ED before transfer to the intensive care unit.

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