Date of Graduation

Spring 5-18-2023

Document Access

Project/Capstone - Global access

Degree Name

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)

College/School

School of Nursing and Health Professions

Program

MSN project

First Advisor

Dr. Theresa Mostasisa

Abstract

Problem: According to a pre-survey collected, approximately six percent of medical-surgical nurses report expert knowledge with the “Inpatient Handoff Sepsis Bundle Checklist,” a checklist that details interventions to be taken when a patient is diagnosed with sepsis. About thirty-five percent of these nurses also report expert confidence levels in caring for sepsis patients. Therefore, there is an opportunity to provide education so that nurses may confidently and competently care for sepsis patients.

Context: A medical-surgical unit at Hospital A affiliated with a large, non-profit, integrated healthcare system located in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Intervention: Create an educational handout to increase awareness about sepsis and improve nurses’ confidence and knowledge in managing sepsis patients. The handout reflects education in these areas: sepsis definition, risk factors, and causes; differences between severe sepsis and septic shock; nursing management of septic patients; education of septic patients; and sepsis bundle checklist elements.

Measures: Pre- and post-educational surveys with six questions, five quantitative Likert-scale questions and one qualitative free-response question.

Results: The results of this educational intervention still need to be gathered due to time constraints. Future iterations of the project may utilize a post-survey to examine if the intervention will have a positive effect on nurses’ knowledge and confidence levels when caring for patients with sepsis. Strong evidence from the literature shows that sepsis training improves nurses’ perspectives, confidence, and knowledge in identifying and managing patients with sepsis, resulting in greater adherence to evidence-based care and improved patient outcomes (Edwards & Jones, 2021).

Conclusion: While this project has several limitations, including time constraints, sample size, and access to the unit, this educational handout can serve as a valuable tool to increase the knowledge and confidence levels of medical-surgical nurses when caring for patients with sepsis. Educating the staff nurses will facilitate the timely recognition and treatment of sepsis patients, ultimately resulting in better patient outcomes.

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