Decreasing Time to Antibiotics for Patients with Sepsis in the Emergency Department

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Emergency Medicine
• Critical Care
• Healthcare Quality Improvement

Background:

• Sepsis presents a significant challenge, impacting patient morbidity and mortality across a spectrum from nonsevere sepsis to septic shock.
• Timely medical intervention is crucial for improving patient outcomes in sepsis cases.
• This project focused on reducing delays in antibiotic administration for pediatric patients with sepsis spectrum disease in a pediatric emergency department (PED).

Purpose of the Study:

• To decrease the median time to antibiotic administration for sepsis patients in the PED from 154 minutes to under 120 minutes within a two-year timeframe.
• To enhance the efficiency and timeliness of sepsis care delivery in a pediatric emergency setting.

Main Methods:

• A multidisciplinary team was formed after baseline data collection.
• Interventions included staff education, implementing a best practice alert with a standardized order set and huddle response, and optimizing local antibiotic stocking.
• The study included all pediatric patients who received orders for intravenous antibiotics and blood cultures.

Main Results:

• The time to antibiotic administration for sepsis patients in the PED was reduced from a baseline of 154 minutes to 114 minutes between April 2015 and April 2017.
• The time from emergency department (ED) arrival to antibiotic order also saw significant improvement, decreasing from 87 minutes to 59 minutes.

Conclusions:

• The initiative successfully improved the prioritization and efficiency of sepsis care, leading to reduced overall time to antibiotics in the pediatric population.
• The project highlights the effectiveness of collaborative, multidisciplinary efforts in optimizing time-sensitive healthcare processes.