The Sepsis Affinity Team has created three tools to help you combat sepsis. These include:
Sepsis Pathway: Starting in November, nursing staff will use the Epic-based pathway with orders from attending physicians. The ED information/data entered in Epic will auto-populate the inpatient Epic chart. This pathway will help you easily learn when severe sepsis or septic shock was identified, if and when blood cultures were obtained and what antibiotics were given.
Sepsis Order Sets: Use these three, with everything you need in one place: ED MD sepsis alert, Adult I.P. sepsis, and ICU admission.
Lactic Acid Panel: This provides for both initial LA level draw and the repeat level within six hours (timed for five hours). Septic patients with a MEWS score equal to 3, along with a normal LA level, have a 20 percent, 28-day mortality rate. Rate rises to 30 percent in patients with lactate levels between 2 and 4.0.