Peer-Driven Education Leads to Improved Sepsis Bundle Compliance, Outcomes

Sepsis bundle education facilitated by a core group of staff led to increased compliance and decreased rates of sepsis mortality in hospitals, according to findings presented at the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists (NACNS) 2018 Annual Conference.

Multidisciplinary collaboration is critical in rapid assessment, recognizing, and initiating sepsis treatment, but a lack of knowledge of the nurse-driven sepsis screening tool leads to suboptimal outcomes.

The “Surviving Sepsis Campaign” is an effort to improve sepsis outcomes and reduce mortality. The sepsis bundle is a set of care elements that when implemented together has resulted in positive outcomes compared with when individual elements are performed alone.

For this study, hospital staff were periodically surveyed to reassess their intimacy with the screening tool and familiarity of the sepsis bundle. The results of these surveys drove the direction for improvement of leadership and education.

Core members were tasked with educating the general nursing staff during quarterly interactive meetings, where they provided updates on the “Surviving Sepsis Campaign,” reviewed and discussed successful cases, and encouraged and fielded suggestions from staff on how to improve compliance.  Often, competitive team simulations and trivia-style games were used to encourage participation and engagement.

Results showed that the initiative led to increased engagement and identification of septic patients, and reduced sepsis mortality. The authors concluded “if improvement in process compliance is needed, education by peers proves to be an effective method in achieving that goal.”

Reference

Jones N, Chaiken J. We are the champions: improving sepsis bundle compliance. Oral presentation at: NACNS 2018 Annual Conference; February 28-March 3, 2018; Austin, TX.