Abstract

Purpose: This study investigates the use of a sepsis screening tool to decrease the length of time from triage to treatment.

Design: In this exploratory study, a convenience sample was drawn from all patients triaged in a critical access hospital emergency department in a six-month period from April 1 through September 30, 2012 and April 1 through September 30, 2013 with a total number of patients of 10,143 for both years. Each patient who was triaged in 2013 was screened for sepsis using the sepsis screening tool and then suspected and positive screens were compared to patients in 2012 that had complaints consistent with potential sepsis.

Methods: Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and Welch t-tests, chart reviews and the sepsis screening tool.

Findings: The use of the sepsis screening tool in triage reduced the time from triage to treatment from 29.2 minutes in 2012 to 15.5 minutes in 2013. Time from triage to treatment is significant because the overall length of time to treatment impacts the morbidity and mortality of septic patients.

Conclusions: The use of a sepsis screening tool in triage by the registered nurse positively affects the time to treatment by reducing the overall length of time to treatment of those patients with suspected sepsis.

Clinical Relevance: This study increases the knowledge base, empowers, and advances the evidence based practice of registered nurses in the emergency department. It suggests that interventions can be used to reduce the time to treatment for patients with suspected sepsis and thus improve the outcome of those patients.

Diane M. Moss

Author Details

Diane Moss, DNP, MS, FNP-BC

Sigma Membership

Unknown

Lead Author Affiliation

Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA

Type

DNP Capstone Project

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Clinical Practice Guideline(s)

Research Approach

Quantitative Research

Keywords:

Sepsis, Screening Tool, Triage, Emergency Department, Nursing, Emergency Services, Hospital, Triage--methods

Advisor

Greenberg, Mary Elizabeth

Second Advisor

Lilly, Mary Luanne

Degree

DNP

Degree Grantor

Northern Arizona University

Degree Year

2014

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.

All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.

All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

Faculty Approved: Degree-based Submission

Acquisition

Self-submission

Full Text of Presentation

wf_yes

Download

Share

COinS