Mrs Chris Freeman1
1Seymour Health, Seymour
Introduction:
This presentation will focus on current evidence based practice in sepsis management for rural and remote health workers with a focus on early detection and the appropriate initial management of these patients with specific reference to case studies presenting through the Seymour Urgent Care Centre.
What is happening in your project/ health service/or what has been your experience:
Seymour is a rural hospital with a small 5 bed urgent care centre managed by one Senior Registered Nurse with assistance provided by ward nurses and an on-call GP or NP. The management of sepsis has been a significant focus in the healthcare industry with improvements in early identification and treatment of patients. Seymour Health service uses the Primary Clinical Care Manual as the guide in the management of patients presenting with potential sepsis and septic shock. We have also invested considerable effort in ongoing education to staff on the management of potential sepsis. Recently staff have successfully identified several septic patients and initiated prompt treatment with good clinical outcomes. This presentation will highlight what was learned from these cases, and how good staff education and prompt clinical assessment from nursing staff was the key to successful management. Specifically the talk will discuss the case of an elderly patient who contracted an unusual bacterial sepsis from exposure to horses. The presentation will also discuss the difficulties encountered in managing patients in a rural area and strategies to deal with these issues.
Conclusion:
While sepsis management is not a new theme it is constantly evolving. This presentation will discuss the latest evidence based practice in relation to sepsis management with specific reference to clinical cases in a rural setting.
Biography:
- Nurse Practitioner Candidate (NPC) Seymour Health Service Victoria
- 20+ years of Rural/Remote area nursing and Emergency Nursing
- Masters Emergency Nursing, currently studying Masters Nurse Practitioner, Graduate Certificate Education (Tertiary Teaching), Diploma Vocational Education and Training, Rural and Isolated Practice Endorsed Nurse (RIPERN).