Multidisciplinary Communication Strategy to Improve Sepsis Bundle Compliance

Abstract

Problem: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) report that annually 270,000 Americans will die due to sepsis and 1 in 3 hospital deaths are a result of sepsis (CDC, 2019). The Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) and the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) launched the Surviving Sepsis Campaign in 2002, using evidence-based guidelines and translating them to clinical practice, with the goal of reducing sepsis deaths by 25% (Marshall et al., 2010). Background: The hospital sepsis committee and hospital leadership identified that sepsis bundle compliance was below target of 85% and in the summer of 2021 requested developing a standard approach to improving this metric. The hospital interventions in the past included online learning modules of education, sepsis meeting discussions, and workflow review; however there has not been a focus on improving interdisciplinary communication. Intervention: An evidence-based quality improvement (EBQI) initiative was used to develop an interactive communication simulation exercise for the sepsis bundle and care. Gamification and simulation/experiential training is effective in content retention, perceptions of communication and teamwork, and supports current knowledge-based thinking (Adams et al., 2018). Results: Preliminary data suggests improvements in the sepsis bundle communication can improve compliance in starting intravenous fluid administration, which in turn can improve outcomes. Conclusions: An improvement in sepsis bundle compliance was achieved. Subjective feedback from participants indicated a preference for immersive education of the sepsis escape room compared to online learning modules. The Sepsis Coordinator will be implementing this Multidisciplinary Communication Strategy to Improve Sepsis Bundle Compliance: A Quality Improvement Project gamification approach and sepsis escape room into orientation for all new nurses, medics, and providers.