Improving the Accuracy of Sepsis Screening by Nurses in Hospitalized Older Adults: A Pilot Interventional Study

The current quality improvement interventional study aimed to determine whether an educational intervention focused on evidence-based practices of sepsis screening for RNs would increase accuracy of sepsis screenings performed among older adult patients in a 32-bed medical-surgical unit of a large urban trauma hospital. A total of 34 RNs participated in this study. Sepsis screenings of participants were collected and audited before and after the educational intervention to determine changes in sepsis screening accuracy. A dependent samples t test was used to assess the statistical difference between pre- and post-intervention sepsis screening scores. Results indicated that the educational intervention effectively increased sepsis screening accuracy in older adult patients at the study center (p = 0.007), with a mean increase of 22.06% accuracy. Accurate sepsis screening is crucial for early sepsis diagnosis and treatment to improve the clinical outcomes of older adult patients with sepsis, reduce health care costs, and decrease resource use. [Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 47(6), 27-34.].