In the United States, 1.7 million adults develop sepsis each year, and just under 270,000 of those cases end in death. Sepsis is an extreme, overactive response to an infection, causing systemic complications. Individuals over 65-years old or experiencing chronic medical conditions are particularly susceptible, but anyone is at risk for getting sepsis. September is Sepsis Awareness Month, a crucial time to spread awareness and call upon medical centers to dedicate resources to the life-threatening complication. According to Medscape and the CDC, one third of patients who die during hospitalization experience sepsis during their hospital stay.
Sepsis can quickly develop into septic shock, meaning the patient will experience changes that can lead to organ failure and death if not treated. Early detection is key. Patients thus need to understand what sepsis looks and feels like—rapid breathing and heart rate, shortness of breath, confusion, extreme pain and discomfort, and fever-like symptoms—and clinicians must know how to identify signs and symptoms early to diagnose and treat those patients efficiently and effectively. The CDC maintains that it is crucial for hospitals to establish sepsis programs with actionable goals, means and strategies to complete those goals, and education available for medical workers involved. During the height of Covid, attention drifted away from sepsis and resources were reallocated to handle the pandemic. But sepsis did not disappear—it is time to reassess what resources we have and how to best prioritize both of these threats.
Mytonomy collaborated with the Sepsis Alliance to create patient education on sepsis, so all of us can be prepared to get the necessary care, if the time comes. Further, Mytonomy provides education on general infection control to reduce the risk of sepsis. Confronting sepsis both reactively and proactively is the kind of thorough solution the condition calls for.
Mytonomy also has training specifically for nurses, giving instructions on how to recognize sepsis in a hospital setting and take the proper next steps. That training is case- and client-specific, providing nurses the tools they need to treat each patient with the best, possibly life saving care.
The CDC is calling upon hospitals for infrastructural reform; Mytonomy will take care of the rest, educating patients and providers alike on how to prevent and manage sepsis.
Sepsis. (2021, September 10). National Institute of General Medical Sciences. Retrieved September 13, 2023, from https://nigms.nih.gov/education/fact-sheets/Pages/sepsis.aspx
Sepsis Too Often Neglected in Hospitals. (2023, September 2). Medscape. https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/996066?
ecd=WNL_trdalrt_pos1_230905_etid5824428&uac=442565EY&impID=5824428
What is Sepsis? | Sepsis. (2023, August 24). CDC. Retrieved September 6, 2023, from https://www.cdc.gov/sepsis/what-is-sepsis.html
(Sepsis Too Often Neglected in Hospitals, 2023)