A Comparison Study on Sepsis Detection Methods by the Nursing Staff in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit, National University Hospital

Monday, 7 July 2008
Sabrina Bee Leng Koh, RN, BN, MHSc (Ed) , ICU, Nursing, National University Hospital Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

Learning Objective 1: The learner will be able to relate importance of nursing assessment skills to early detection of sepsis.

Learning Objective 2: The learner will be able to identify the parameters necessary for detecting sepsis.

The purpose of the study is to determine the level of nurses' awareness in diagnosing criteria for sepsis and if a protocol watch monitor can assist the nurses in reporting sepsis onset promptly in area of high staff turn-over and when the unit has high number of junior staff who may not be versed with sepsis detection and its management.

The project will survey nurses in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU), National University Hospital (NUH), Singapore, on their awareness on the physiological derangements in sepsis and in detecting sepsis early.

The project will employ the use of a haemodynamic monitor with the sepsis bundle protocol programmed (protocol watch monitor) by the Philips Medical Systems, to assist the nurses in early sepsis detection. Post-study, the SICU nurses will be surveyed on the usability of the protocol watch monitor and if the monitor favors early detection that can impact on positive patient outcome.