Determining the Credibility of Evidence and Resources

Sepsis is an inflammatory reaction to an infection that could result in severe organ dysfunction and even death. Sepsis is among the leading causes of mortality in medical intensive care units. Sepsis has an extremely high burden of care and has resulted in over 5.3 million deaths in the US within a short period of time (Alnababteh et al., 2020). Furthermore, sepsis is linked to longer stays in the hospital. Among the major challenges in care for sepsis is recognition of the syndrome, and this is usually complicated by comorbid conditions, disease severity, and advanced patient age. Early and fast detection, as well as therapy for sepsis patients, can improve outcomes for patients (Berg & Gerlach, 2018). Making use of an evidence-based approach to improve the quality of treatment and management of sepsis so as to reduce the disease burden and improve the outcome for patients is recommended. This paper will focus on quality improvement for sepsis management using evidence-based practices. Credible evidence needs to be incorporated into EBP models to ensure the quality improvement of sepsis management.

Using an evidence-based approach to tackle quality issues in healthcare requires the use of credible resources like websites and journal articles. The criteria that need to be considered when determining the credibility of these resources should be as follows: authority, relevance, objectivity, accuracy, and currency. Authority is the measure of knowledge, experience, interests, and integrity of the authors of the source. It is important to have knowledge of the professional or academic credentials of the authors as well as the website or journals that published the source. Accuracy relates to the verifiability and quality of the content of the source. The source needs to be logical and clear and should also include citations and proper methodology. Currency is also a key aspect since using up-to-date sources will inform current evidence and outcomes, as opposed to using outdated ways of dealing with problems in healthcare. Objectivity refers to an assessment of the biases of the source and credible sources to mitigate biases by presenting logical arguments and facts. Lastly, the relevance of the source is assessing to what extent it fits the argument or research conducted. It is important to find sources that relate to the research, such as quality improvement for sepsis management (Jefferson, 2018).

Schmidt et al.’s (2018) article on “Evaluation and management of suspected sepsis and septic shock in adults” is considered a credible source that could help find evidence on quality improvement for sepsis management. The article is published by UpToDate journal, which is credited for publishing scholarly articles that help in the improvement of outcomes. The article offers insight into such factors as immediate assessment and management of sepsis as a way of improving disease outcomes. For proper management of patients with sepsis as well as septic shock, Schmidt et al. (2018) recommend securing the airway, correcting hypoxemia, and establishing venous access for early administration of antibiotics and fluids; Hence, the article will be beneficial in expounding on the management of sepsis. The authors have employed over 100 outside sources, making the work highly credible and indicates comprehensive research and knowledge of the topic. The article was published in 2018 but was last updated in 2021, implying that it is up to date and has incorporated current issues relating to sepsis management.

Alnababteh et al. (2020) is another article that offers insight into quality improvement in the management of patients with sepsis. The authors suggest implementing a multi-modal quality improvement initiative which is associated with improved screening for patients, reduced prevalence of septic shock and sepsis, increased compliance with the sepsis interventions bundle, and reduced mortality and hospital-readmission rates. This article is highly objective, supporting arguments with data and employing several outside resources to inform their study. The article is also current and will be helpful in providing information regarding early screening as it pertains to the improvement of sepsis management.

McDonald et al. (2018) article is another up-to-date article that will be useful in identifying quality improvement for early sepsis care and recognition. The article identifies the need for early recognition by adopting emergency department-based protocols that focus on early treatment and detection of patients with sepsis, as suggested in the Early Goal-Directed Therapy (McDonald et al., 2018). The article is also a credible source that offers objective insight and has employed several outside resources. The authors have also outlined the limitations of their study, identifying such things as possible imperfections in coding, hence increasing the credibility and trustworthiness of the paper. This article will be the most useful in the topic given that it offers great insight on such factors as screening tools that can be used to ensure early detection of sepsis and hence improve its management.

Evidence-based practice is of utmost importance since it aims at providing the most effective care available, with the aim of enhancing patient outcomes. Patients expect to obtain the most effective care based on the best available evidence. As a result, it is important to incorporate credible evidence into the chosen evidence-based practice model that is used to address the quality issue. Given that the EBP models incorporate the most recent research to generate the best patient care practices, it is important to employ the most credible evidence in the model. For instance, the Knowledge-to-Action Process Framework is a model that creates and integrates knowledge to be able to identify problems that are to be addressed and adapt this knowledge to the local context (Thomas, 2017). Sepsis management has been identified as a major problem that needs to be addressed, and therefore making use of credible evidence while incorporating such a model with help inform research and improve patient outcomes.

Conclusion

Using evidence-based research findings is important for increasing quality and safety for patients during care and ensures optimal results are attained. With the evolution and changes in the nursing profession, it is important to incorporate evidence-based practice to tackle various issues in healthcare. This paper has identified the need for addressing quality improvement in the management of patients with sepsis. Various patients die or experience prolonged hospital stays or readmissions due to delayed detection and treatment of sepsis, hence the need for improving patient outcomes by ensuring early detection. To ensure quality improvement for patients with sepsis, the need for credible sources to inform the study has been identified. Furthermore, since evidence-based practice aims to provide the most effective care available and to enhance patient outcomes, incorporating credible evidence into EBP models to address quality issues is important. The currency of sources is of great importance to ensure improved patient outcomes.

References

Alnababteh, M. H., Huang, S. S., Ryan, A., McGowan, K. M., & Yohannes, S. (2020). A Multi-modal Sepsis Quality-Improvement Initiative Including 24/7 Screening and a Dedicated Sepsis Response Team-Reduced Readmissions and Mortality. Critical care explorations, 2(12), e0251. doi: 10.1097/CCE.0000000000000251

Berg, D., & Gerlach, H. (2018). Recent advances in understanding and managing sepsis. F1000Research, 7, F1000 Faculty Rev-1570. https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.15758.1

Jefferson, D. (2018). COMM 100: Choosing Quality Resources. American University.

McDonald, C. M., West, S., Dushenski, D., Lapinsky, S. E., Soong, C., Van den Broek, K., … & Morris, A. (2018). Sepsis now a priority: a quality improvement initiative for early sepsis recognition and care. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 30(10), 802-809.

Schmidt, G. A., Mandel, J., Parsons, P. E., Sexton, D. J., Hockberger, R. S., & Finlay, G. (2018). Evaluation and management of suspected sepsis and septic shock in adults. Uptodate Online, 1-29.

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