GE Healthcare's Online Sepsis Education Program Stresses Early Recognition And Care

Main Category: Medical Students / Training
Also Included In: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses;  Blood / Hematology
Article Date: 24 Jun 2009 - 4:00 PDT

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GE Healthcare's Trends in Sepsis Management online program - based on the six-year Surviving Sepsis Campaign - is designed to engage clinicians in real-life situations involving the identification and treatment of sepsis. Sepsis is the body's response to infection, which, in more severe forms, can lead to potentially deadly systemic blood vessel inflammation and clotting, organ shutdown and cardiovascular system failure. The rate of severe sepsis cases is expected to rise to one million cases per year by 2010, as the average age of the population increases, the SSC predicts.

Notably, according to statistics from the American Cancer Society, the estimated 139,786 American deaths in 2008 from all of the following cancer sites: colon/rectum, breast, prostate, ovary, and pancreas combined, is significantly lower than Surviving Sepsis Campaign's estimate of 215,000 annual sepsis deaths.

GE Healthcare-in collaboration with critical care expert, Thomas Ahrens, RN, DNS, CCNS, FAAN)-developed Trends in Sepsis Management, an online, evidence-based educational program.

"This program is web-based, so learning can occur anytime, anywhere-which is especially important now in times of high turnover and budget constraints," said Sara McMannus, GE Healthcare Education Services, Clinical Education Program Manager. "Staff can learn at their convenience and complete the course within two to four weeks. The program is designed to efficiently and cost-effectively share the latest evidence-based practice among an entire hospital staff. Continuing education unit [CEU] credits are awarded upon program completion. GE Healthcare's sepsis program and our other educational offerings focus on transforming essential services into extraordinary outcomes for people, processes and clinical staff."

Advanced learning tools

Program participants have three opportunities for learning: videos, interactive electronic "books" and practice cases in virtual reality interactive patient rooms. The interactive rooms, in particular, can be powerful learning tools because they present clinicians with real life situations in a virtual patient room with a realistic patient environment. Clinicians can assess the patient's condition, review the electronic record for information and look at the bedside monitor. The goal in these rooms is to assess patients, intervene when necessary and solve any problems the virtual patient may have.

The overall program objective is to teach practicing clinicians to recognize and successfully manage patients with sepsis. On course completion, participants should be able to:

1) Recognize infections and the signs and symptoms of sepsis
2) Differentiate sepsis from severe sepsis using key clinical indicators
3) Describe the use of lactate as a screening tool
4) Explain the treatments for sepsis, including early goal directed therapy, tight glycemic control, replacement dose steroids and activated protein C
5) Discuss how implementation of "bundles" holds the potential to standardize care and achieve success in identification and treatment of sepsis

To learn more about the Trends in Sepsis Management program, visit http://www.gehealthcare.com/clinicaled.

Source
GE Healthcare