Background and Review of Literature: Sepsis readmissions have a great financial and personal consequence for those who have survived sepsis. By knowing that sepsis survivors often require more assistance and often need post-acute care in nursing facilities, nursing facilities should be the focus of a targeted educational intervention to decrease hospital readmissions. Lippitt’s Change theory supports providing education to a wide range of care providers in contact with sepsis survivors.
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to decrease sepsis readmissions and sepsis admissions by increasing knowledge of nursing facility direct care staff.
Methods: The design for this project, will be based on nursing staff education. The nursing staff education will be completed at nursing facilities in Eastern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania that use Wellspan Ephrata Internal Medicine providers to care for their patients. The nursing staff which includes, Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses, Medication Technicians and Certified Nursing Assistants, will undergo an education session that will not last more than one hour.
Implementation Plan/Procedure: During this session the nursing staff will learn about sepsis and the use of the STOP and WATCH tools and sepsis algorithm. Their knowledge will be measured by a pre- and post-test. Sepsis admission and readmission rates before and after the nursing staff education, will be measured by a retrospective record review for those that meet the inclusion criteria.
Implications/Conclusion: Sepsis continues to increase healthcare costs nationwide. Nursing facilities contain a vulnerable population that have an increased risk of having an infection turn into sepsis. Education and tools to help nursing home caregivers to identify those at risk of sepsis and teaching them the necessary steps to take to help those patients, will give those patients a higher chance of surviving. Identifying sepsis early will help to not only prevent sepsis but may also help prevent sepsis readmissions. Decreasing sepsis readmissions will decrease the cost of care and will help patients to have a better quality of life. The use of a simple sepsis tool, along with education will allow for early detection and give those patients a better chance of survival.
Keywords: Sepsis survivors, sepsis follow up care, sepsis discharge, sepsis readmission, sepsis discharge planning, sepsis primary care provider, sepsis primary care, sepsis mortality, sepsis education
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