Document Type

Final Project

Graduation Date

Spring 5-4-2024

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice

First Advisor

Jill R. Reed, PhD, APRN-NP, FNP-BC

Second Advisor

Leeza Struwe, PhD, MSN, RN

Abstract

Background: Sepsis continues to be a critical issue worldwide. New sepsis guidelines instituted by the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) list evidence-based standards to comply with regarding care for sepsis patients. To help a new acute care facility meet compliance, a sepsis educational program has been developed to assess staff knowledge and confidence in caring for these patients.

Methods: This quality improvement (QI) project was developed using a pre-post study design to assess the impact of implementing a sepsis educational program for emergency department staff at this new acute care institution. A sepsis educational program was derived from CMS’s sepsis protocol SEP-1 Core Measures. The protocol calls for a series of evidence-based interventions to be completed within three and six hours.

Results:Post intervention data show that after completing the sepsis education program 69.3% of staff felt they were very confident or extremely confident in their care of sepsis patients. Familiarity with sepsis had a statically significant increase t (22) = 10.35, p

Conclusions: Data show the participants gained familiarity and confidence from the sepsis education program. Knowledge improvement was significant after the standard of care guidelines education. Having staff trained in these interventions will not only increase compliance but, most importantly, improve patient outcomes.

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