Assessing the Impact of Nurse-Pharmacist-Laboratory Collaboration on the Timeliness of Antibiotic Therapy in Sepsis Management

Abstract

Sepsis if not treated on time could also prove to be fatal; this is the reason why the use of antibiotics is extremely important as it will lead to a decrease in the rates of fatalities. The problem is however in the delay in administering antibiotics and that is what this research looks for, inspired by the previous literature works this research progresses by correlating the assistance in various aspects of treatment, such as how the treatment resulted in improved outcomes amongst the patients when the nurses, the lab and pharmacists came together in this clinical approach. A retrospective cohort study was set in place, wherein the mode of analysis compared the set of patients who were given a treatment method structured though a protocol and those who weren’t treated using this method. Strategies that were utilized and were found to be effective included making it a point to carry out microbiologic testing without any delays, pharmacists being responsive and effective in administering the antibiotics, and nurses administering early assessments of the sepsis. The findings revealed that the patients had their first antibiotic treatment in 500 sepsis cases (250 pre-protocol and 250 post-protocol). Many more metrics were utilized to generate findings, like the time that was taken from the initial consultation to the first dosage of treatment and the tax incidence of death post the treatment. Eventually, when the collaborative method was put in place the median time taken for the first dosage dropped from180 minutes to 90 minutes thus proving beneficial to the patients. Furthermore, the post-protocol sample experienced a 15% reduction in death rate during the time the patient spent in the hospital alongside a decrease of 2.4 days in the average time spent in the hospital. These findings demonstrate the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in the management of sepsis, demonstrating how integrating the efforts of pharmacists, nurses, and laboratory specialists may enhance patient outcomes and the timely administration of antibiotics. This work encourages the broader application of such collaborative techniques to optimize therapy for sepsis and reduce its global prevalence. To validate these findings in various hospital settings, more prospective study is suggested.