Appendix B

by Vanessa Hrvatin

Outline of the Sepsis Toolkit

The purpose of the sepsis toolkit is threefold:

  1. Support clinicians with knowledge and tools for sepsis identification, management, treatment, and escalation of care for adult and pediatric populations
  2. Reduce avoidable sepsis related morbidity, mortality, and costs
  3. Improve the quality and safety of care for patients with sepsis

The sections of the toolkit:

  1. Getting Started: Here, the toolkit provides information on how to engage stakeholders in building a sepsis improvement team in a clinical setting.
  2. Setting an Aim: A form where teams are able to lay out goals and record team roles and responsibilities. An example of a goal would be something like “By October 15, Surgical Ward 3B will correctly identify and treat hospital-acquired infections 95% of the time.”
  3. Measuring Progress: A form to record data on how successful the team has been at diagnosing and treating sepsis and identifying areas of weakness.
  4. Clinical Tools: There are several clinical tools provided, including awareness posters to put on hospital walls to remind nurses and doctors to think about sepsis; an inpatient screening tool that walks the nurse/doctor through the steps they should be following when sepsis is suspected; and preprinted orders (a list of sepsis-based tests to run that a doctor has already signed so that a nurse can start running the tests without having to wait for a doctor).
  5. Resources for engagement and implementation: Suggestions for ways to encourage teams to implement the toolkit and strive for improved sepsis care.