Digital Commons Network^™

Keep Calm And Screen For Sepsis, Nicole Hamilton

Nursing Research & Professional Development Conference

Background:

Pediatric emergencies have been found to be challenging for emergency professional teams. Sepsis is one of the leading causes of mortality in children in the US with 1.2 million pediatric patients are diagnosed with sepsis annually.

PICO statement: Nurses and patient care technicians in the Emergency Department caring for a pediatric patient aged 5 years or younger presenting with symptoms of sepsis will have improved outcomes when comparing current practice after a skill-based program that will improve knowledge, skill, and confidence of Nurses and Patient Care.

AIM: Focus of the initiative:

• Improved outcomes for included pediatric sepsis positive screened …

Can You Escape An Infection?, Teresa Flowers, Jennifer Mcconnell

Nursing Research & Professional Development Conference

Background: Healthcare acquired infections are a major safety concern for both health care providers and patients; and increases morbidity, mortality, length of stay and costs.

Local Problem: In 2021, there was an increase in infections at Atrium Health Stanly (10 infections up from four in 2020). For years, staff were educated through learning modules. Teammtes were bored with this method and did not retain the information. The team decided to incorporate an Escape Room as a creative educational opportunity to increase knowledge of infection prevention evidence-based best practices.

Method: The escape rooms were focused on quality improvement topics and ways …

One And Done - A Process For Improving Chg Bathing Compliance, Michelle R. Johnson

Nursing Research & Professional Development Conference

The prevention of hospital-acquired infections is a growing topic in healthcare. This has resulted in an increased focus being placed on CHG bathing, as it helps to reduce the patients’ risk for developing infections while hospitalized, as well as the associated costs. At Carolinas Rehabilitation, the expectation is that all patients who have central lines inserted and those who have tested positive for MRSA infections will receive CHG daily CHG baths for a specified period. Chart audits helped to confirm the lack of consistency with getting the CHG baths completed and/or documented by our Nursing and Therapy teammates.

We tried …

Putting The Kibosh On Bugs: Nurses Lead Reduction In Blood Culture Contamination Rates, Echo Ashley

Nursing Research & Professional Development Conference

Background

Blood culture contamination results in unnecessary waste of supplies and resources, increased medical costs related to inappropriate of antibiotics, and threatens successful antibiotic stewardship. A spike in blood culture contamination rates in emergency department settings has been examined in relation to elevated patient acuity levels. Other studies have examined the financial impact of contaminated blood cultures and found that, on average, there is a $4538 cost savings associated with prevention of blood culture contamination. Blood culture contamination rates within a local emergency department increased to 5% which was above the national benchmark of 2.3%. Evaluation of pre-intervention data revealed …