Date of Graduation

Fall 12-22-2019

Document Access

Restricted Project/Capstone - USF access only

Degree Name

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)

College/School

School of Nursing and Health Professions

First Advisor

Jennifer Zesati

Abstract

Sepsis, a life-threatening multi-organ dysfunction syndrome caused by infection, remains as one of the leading causes of death affecting 1 in 3 patients who have died in the hospital (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016). According to data collected in 2018, the sepsis mortality rate at an East Bay medical center was 10.15% whereas surrounding medical centers averaged around 8.78%. It was found that miscommunication between the ED nurses and floor staff nurses during patient transfers contributed to the higher rate noting that 78.1% of the floor nurses (ICU, PCU, and medical-surgical) felt they were not adequately prepared to care for septic patients due to poor sepsis handoff. Early identification and intervention of sepsis is key to reducing the mortality rate by at least 1% within the next year requiring a standardized handoff between the units. A proposal was made to implement a sepsis checklist within the existing EHR’s (EPIC) interface, also known as a Sepsis Navigator, as a means of transmitting crucial data about a patient’s condition. An average of 86.67% of the floor nurses positively favored the idea of an electronic checklist in order to improve communication between the ED and floor. Though due to time constraints, implementation and evaluation of the Sepsis Navigator still need to be explored in order to determine its effectiveness in reducing the medical center’s sepsis mortality rate.

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