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Full-Text Articles in Critical Care Nursing

Optimizing Sepsis Management Through Enhanced Protocol Compliance In The Emergency Department, Oscar J. Castillo Dec 2023

Optimizing Sepsis Management Through Enhanced Protocol Compliance In The Emergency Department, Oscar J. Castillo

Master's Projects and Capstones

Problem: The Quality Improvement (QI) Project focused on improving early sepsis management and sepsis bundle adherence among Emergency Department (ED) nurses to decrease sepsis mortality rates and avoidable length of hospital stays (LOS).

Context: A group of Clinical Nurse Leaders (CNL) students evaluated sepsis protocol compliance at Hospital A's ED, which provides critical care for patients with various medical conditions. The CNL students concentrated on patients identified with sepsis for the QI Project.

Interventions: Limitations and time did not allow for the implementation of interventions. Recommendations offered to management included increasing sepsis training biannually and intravenous placement skills, offering sepsis …


Improving Early Sepsis Recognition: Resocializing Intensive Care Unit Nurses In A Large Hospital On The Inpatient Sepsis Bundle Checklist, Elizabeth Rose Maykel Dec 2023

Improving Early Sepsis Recognition: Resocializing Intensive Care Unit Nurses In A Large Hospital On The Inpatient Sepsis Bundle Checklist, Elizabeth Rose Maykel

Master's Projects and Capstones

Problem: In order to lower sepsis morbidity and mortality rates through early recognition and treatment, this quality improvement project sought to raise sepsis awareness and bundle compliance within the Intensive Care Unit.

Context: Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) students completed a microsystem assessment of the Intensive Care Unit at Hospital X in Northern California. This unit cares for patients with sepsis, organ failure, respiratory failure, different types of shock, acute kidney injury, and traumatic brain injury.

Interventions: The implemented intervention included a refresher huddle on sepsis bundle awareness. Though the intervention was ineffective, the students did offer recommendations …


Mentoring Nurses After Specialty Training Or Orientation In Labor And Delivery, Benjamin Jlopleh Worji Dec 2023

Mentoring Nurses After Specialty Training Or Orientation In Labor And Delivery, Benjamin Jlopleh Worji

Master's Projects and Capstones

Mentoring Nurses After Specialty Training or Orientation in Labor and Delivery

Abstract

Background: The setting for this project was a northern California hospital-based healthcare system referred to as “Hospital KV.” Hospital KV is a non-profit, integrated hospital that operates to improve the community’s health. Hospital KV’s maternal child health (MCH) department comprises a labor and delivery(L&D) unit, a mother and baby unit (MBU), also referred to as a postpartum unit, and an intermediate nursery (IMN).

Problem: The hospital KV MCH department faced the challenge of a nursing shortage. The nursing shortage was associated with substantial challenges to Hospital KV, its …


Optimizing Sepsis Management Through Enhanced Protocol Compliance In The Emergency Department, Efrain Perez Trujillo Dec 2023

Optimizing Sepsis Management Through Enhanced Protocol Compliance In The Emergency Department, Efrain Perez Trujillo

Master's Projects and Capstones

Problem: This quality improvement (QI) project aims to optimize early sepsis management and sepsis bundle compliance among Emergency Department (ED) registered nurses in order to reduce the risk of sepsis-related deaths and associated hospital length of stay.

Context: Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) students conducted a microsystem assessment on the ED at Hospital A, located within the greater San Francisco Bay Area. This microsystem, equipped with 115 nurses and 44 rooms, consists of an acuity of care for urgent to life-threatening medical conditions, including sepsis.

Intervention: Following time constraints, and limitations, implementation of an intervention was not feasible; however, CNL students …


Optimizing Sepsis Management Through Enhanced Protocol Compliance In The Emergency Department, Camila Sanchez Dec 2023

Optimizing Sepsis Management Through Enhanced Protocol Compliance In The Emergency Department, Camila Sanchez

Master's Projects and Capstones

Problem: The purpose of this quality improvement (QI) project revolves around increasing overall staff nurse compliance, enhancing their sepsis education resources, and usage of their provided education and bundle. This goal was created to produce more positive patient outcomes at Hospital X, along with its improved management of sepsis. Hospital X is an acute care facility located in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Context: The unit that was studied during this QI project was the emergency department of Hospital X. This unit provides level I trauma services in addition to other types of emergency care and contains 44 beds. Not …


Optimizing Sepsis Management Through Enhanced Protocol Compliance In The Emergency Department, Monica P. Rabago Moreno Dec 2023

Optimizing Sepsis Management Through Enhanced Protocol Compliance In The Emergency Department, Monica P. Rabago Moreno

Master's Projects and Capstones

Problem: This quality improvement project aims to enhance early sepsis management and sepsis bundle compliance among Emergency Department nurses to reduce the risk of sepsis-related deaths as well as hospital length of stays.

Context: A microsystem assessment, in the emergency department (ED) unit, was performed in Hospital A located in the Greater San Francisco Bay area by Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) students. This ED unit cares for a variety of critical care patients ranging from urgent to life-threatening conditions.

Intervention: An intervention was not implemented in the ED unit due to time constraints and limitations; however, CNL students provided recommendations …


Improving Triage Accuracy In The Emergency Department, Joselyn Silverman Dec 2023

Improving Triage Accuracy In The Emergency Department, Joselyn Silverman

Master's Projects and Capstones

Problem: High rates of patients being mis-triaged was occurring at Hospital X leading to poor patient outcomes and incorrect staffing levels.

Context: This quality improvement project took place at Hospital X’s emergency department. A stakeholder analysis and a microsystem assessment along with a staff survey was created in order to determine areas of improvement and staff responsiveness.

Interventions: Eight educational seminars were conducted along with Hospital X leadership and students created supplemental materials for the staff to use on a daily basis.

Measures: Two data pulls were conducted over the course of the quality improvement project; one prior to the …


Improving Early Sepsis Recognition: Resocializing Intensive Care Unit Nurses In A Large Hospital On The Inpatient Sepsis Bundle Checklist, Nancy Zhu Dec 2023

Improving Early Sepsis Recognition: Resocializing Intensive Care Unit Nurses In A Large Hospital On The Inpatient Sepsis Bundle Checklist, Nancy Zhu

Master's Projects and Capstones

Problem: Sepsis is a life threatening disease that has caused over a million deaths annually in the nation. Early recognition of sepsis is highly crucial for health care professionals to know to prevent an increase of mortality and morbidity rates. This quality improvement project aimed to increase sepsis bundle checklist awareness to the staff and compliance in the Intensive Care Unit to improve the sepsis cases.

Context: Clinical Nurse Leader students completed a microsystem assessment of the Intensive Care Unit at Hospital X in San Mateo County. This unit cares for patients with sepsis, septic shock, severe sepsis, organ failure, …


Early Mobility In The Intensive Care Unit, Kimberly Masse Aug 2023

Early Mobility In The Intensive Care Unit, Kimberly Masse

Master's Projects and Capstones

Abstract

Problem: Within the intensive care unit (ICU) environment, the inconsistent implementation of early mobility practices poses a significant challenge, resulting in suboptimal patient outcomes. This quality improvement project addressed the critical issue of lower mobility scores and the barriers faced in promoting early mobilization due to the complex nature of the ICU, including the patient population and therapeutic interventions.

Context: Situated in a 327-bed hospital, the 20-bed ICU caters to critically ill patients with diverse diagnoses, such as stroke, heart failure, sepsis, and Covid pneumonia. The ICU staff comprises registered nurses (RNs), patient care technicians (PCTs), and other …


Reduce Extended Length Of Stay By Reducing In-Hospital Falls, Norberto Benitez Aug 2023

Reduce Extended Length Of Stay By Reducing In-Hospital Falls, Norberto Benitez

Master's Projects and Capstones

Abstract

Problem: Every year, there are many in-hospital falls (IHFs). Nationally there are between 700,000 to 1 million falls recorded each year. Hospital falls financially burden our healthcare industry, costing approximately 34 billion annually. Context: In a local hospital in Northern California, Marin County, the microsystem has had an extraordinary number of in-hospital falls (IHFs). To date (June 2023), 13 falls have been recorded thus far; the microsystem is on track to beat the previous year's record number of 21 falls in a calendar year. Interventions: The MSN–CNL student proposed re-educating staff, resetting expectations, and reestablishing workflow. We also sought …


Early Sepsis Recognition: Improving Sepsis Education In A Medical-Surgical/Telemetry Unit, Kathileen Tran May 2023

Early Sepsis Recognition: Improving Sepsis Education In A Medical-Surgical/Telemetry Unit, Kathileen Tran

Master's Projects and Capstones

Problem: This quality improvement project aimed to increase sepsis education and bundle compliance within the medical-surgical/telemetry unit to improve sepsis mortality and morbidity rates.

Context: A microsystem assessment was completed by Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) students in the medical-surgical/telemetry unit at Hospital X located in the San Francisco Bay Area. This microsystem cares for patients diagnosed with sepsis, congestive heart failure (CHF), electrolyte imbalance, and alcohol withdrawal.

Interventions: Due to time constraints, an intervention was not implemented; however, the students provided recommendations for interventions to the leadership team for follow up. The recommended interventions encompass implementing sepsis protocol reference cards, …


Educating Medical-Surgical Nurses In A Large Hospital Organization On Sepsis Bundle Elements, Christopher N. Guinto May 2023

Educating Medical-Surgical Nurses In A Large Hospital Organization On Sepsis Bundle Elements, Christopher N. Guinto

Master's Projects and Capstones

Problem: Results from a voluntarily anonymous pre-survey about sepsis revealed that a majority of the seventeen nurses assessed themselves below an "expert knowledge '' level. The survey results present an opportunity to improve the nurses’ knowledge and confidence in nursing response and improve patient outcomes with sepsis.

Context: The quality improvement (QI) project was conducted on a medical-surgical unit in a large Northern California hospital.

Intervention: A QI team initiated evidenced-based practice research and created an educational sepsis handout for nurses to increase sepsis knowledge and confidence.

Measures: The self-assessment pre-survey would be compared to the responses from the post-survey. …


Improving Timely Sepsis Care Through Staff Education Within The Emergency Department, Spencer Forest May 2023

Improving Timely Sepsis Care Through Staff Education Within The Emergency Department, Spencer Forest

Master's Projects and Capstones

Problem: This quality improvement project aims to increase SEP-1 sepsis bundle compliance among nursing staff at a 16-bed emergency department through targeted continual staff education on sepsis screening and best practices. Currently, the unit is experiencing cases of sepsis fallout and is not meeting the 90% threshold on three treatment metrics as defined by the institutional sepsis bundle time goals. Bundle compliance that adheres to the time goals decreases incidences of sepsis fallout and overall days in the hospital, while increasing positive patient health outcomes.

Context: A microsystem assessment was completed along with a staff gap survey to determine areas …


Increasing Sepsis Bundle Compliance Through Nurse Education, Parth S. Papaiya May 2023

Increasing Sepsis Bundle Compliance Through Nurse Education, Parth S. Papaiya

Master's Projects and Capstones

There exists opportunities for improvement in regards to sepsis management and compliance rates in efforts to reduce sepsis-related complications and incidents in the ED. SEP-1 fallouts and requirements linked to education gaps about sepsis bundle protocols, nurses’ attitudes about implementation of the protocols, and differences in nurse/physician order sets present as deterrents for timely sepsis management and improvements in the rates of compliance/adherence. Denouncing the usage of standardized protocols/use of order sets have been identified as a process gap and a much needed opportunity for improvement. It is presumed that the failure to implement, in addition to improper documentation of …


Improving Timely Sepsis Care Through Staff Education Within The Emergency Department, Gregory James Trevino May 2023

Improving Timely Sepsis Care Through Staff Education Within The Emergency Department, Gregory James Trevino

Master's Projects and Capstones

Problem: Providing high-quality sepsis care in a San Francisco Bay Area emergency department (ED) is an organizational priority, however Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service (CMS) SEP-1 sepsis bundle compliance has decreased to an average of 79% compliance since October of 2022. It was revealed that CMS SEP-1 sepsis bundle compliance issues have resulted in increased patient fallouts.

Context: A microsystem assessment was conducted by the quality improvement team to help identify gaps in practice. After an assessment survey of nursing staff, it was revealed that barriers such as physician order sets, lack of communication, lack of staffing during peak …


Educating Medical-Surgical Nurses In A Large Hospital Organization On Sepsis: Bundle Elements, Grace Jenks May 2023

Educating Medical-Surgical Nurses In A Large Hospital Organization On Sepsis: Bundle Elements, Grace Jenks

Master's Projects and Capstones

Problem: Based on the findings of a pre-survey conducted, it was observed that around 6% of the Medical-Surgical nurses who participated from Hospital A possessed "expert knowledge" of the "inpatient handoff sepsis bundle checklist." The results highlight the potential for educating and boosting the confidence of nurses working in a healthcare organization located in Northern California, enabling them to provide better care for patients afflicted with sepsis.

Context: The microsystem is a Medical-surgical unit situated within Hospital A, which is one of the 21 hospitals located in Northern California. Dr. Theresa Mostasisa conducted a survey on February 15, 2023, …


Increasing Sepsis-Bundle Adherence On A Medical-Surgical/Telemetry Unit: A Quality Improvement Project, Tiffany Liu May 2023

Increasing Sepsis-Bundle Adherence On A Medical-Surgical/Telemetry Unit: A Quality Improvement Project, Tiffany Liu

Master's Projects and Capstones

Problem: Sepsis is a life-threatening complication of infection that can lead to tissue damage, organ dysfunction, and death. Early recognition and intervention are crucial in the management of sepsis. Delays in sepsis care can lead to adverse health outcomes and even death. Sepsis bundles are guided by evidence-based practice. They serve as guidelines for effective and timely management of sepsis. Adherence to these sepsis bundles is associated with overall improved morbidity and mortality.

Context: This quality improvement project was led by Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) students from the University of San Francisco. It was implemented at a 244-bed …