Università degli studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia

Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia
Corso di laurea in infermieristica - Sede di Modena

Abstract

Sepsis is a very serious and widespread problem. The costs of his care are substantial and are given by laboratory tests and by the treatments, performed in intensive care units for the later stages. Through information and training of health personnel and the citizen is possible to reduce the lethality of sepsis, saving human lives and resources.
This disease  is time-dependent : it gets worse quickly leading patients to death. 
The most difficult thing about this kind of disease is to recognize the signs and symptoms, because sepsis is often manifested by a worsening of the symptoms of another pre-existent disease.
I’ts crucial to be able to recognize them to start the patient to a specific treatment.
The first person to come into contact with the patient at the emergency room is the triage nurse.
The triage nurse is a professional, trained and educated in order to recognize the severity and priority of the patient when he arrives at the emergency room. He must have features and requirements that enable them to fulfill this specific role.
The last few years saw the birth of awareness projects designed for the prevention of this disease. Often, the lethality is given by its non-recognition caused by the lack of information by the hospital staff . The Policlinico of Modena, since 2004, has launched the "Surviving Sepsis", with the aim of training all hospital staff  in the management of patients that suffer from this infection.
The purpose of this paper is the presentation of a flowchart that can be used as a tool to facilitate early identification of patients who present symptoms and signs of sepsis