Early Recognition of Sepsis in Outpatient Ambulatory Settings: An Educational Program for Primary Care Providers in Rural, South Central Kansas

Background and Review of Literature: Sepsis is a life-threatening, dysregulated human response to infection. It claims more lives than breast, lung or prostate cancer. Sepsis affects annually, 1.7 million Americans and 10,000 Kansas. The mortality rate can reach 50-80% if treatment is delayed. Early identification, prevention, and intervention, beginning in the community, before emergency room admission, is necessary. It is important to educate primary care providers and community members on early sepsis prevention, early identification, treatment, and recognition of high-risk groups. Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement project was to increase knowledge about sepsis among community-based, primary care providers such as nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and physicians in ambulatory settings in rural, South-Central Kansas. Methods: A single group, pretest-posttest approach was used for this quality improvement project. An online educational module on sepsis early identification and treatment, created by TMF Health Quality Institute (2018), was synchronously presented to primary care providers employed in a rural, primary care health organization. Knowledge acquisition was measured using a test provided by TMF(2018). Result: Three providers participated. The overall percent increase in test scores from pretest to posttest was 16.6%. Pretest scores were low ranging from 40% -70%. Posttest scores were 70%. Discussion: Low pretest scores indicated a need for this education. The results showed an average 16.6% increase on test scores. Test score improvement demonstrated knowledge attained from the education provided and that this educational method and material was effective. This or similar projects delivered to primary care providers in an outpatient clinic could be beneficial. Keywords: sepsis, early recognition, ambulatory setting, primary care