Sepsis for healthcare providers
Key points about sepsis
- This page contains information about sepsis for healthcare providers.
- Find information on clinical guidelines and resources.
Sepsis is one of the most serious conditions we can see as healthcare providers and with a mortality rate of 10 to 20%, we need to recognise it immediately and act fast.
Because it doesn't fall neatly into one specialty, the extent of the problem hasn't been profiled as clearly as other serious conditions, yet each year it kills more people than lung, breast and bowel cancer combined.
To address this gap, a group of clinicians at Waikato Hospital have set up Sepsis Trust NZ and adapted the NICE guidelines for Aotearoa New Zealand. This page highlights some of the key messages from these documents and viewers should read the full versions for more detail.
Clinical tools (adapted for Aotearoa New Zealand)
Paediatric sepsis screening and action tool [PDF, 1.5 MB]
Adult sepsis screening and action tool [PDF, 1.4 MB]
Maternal sepsis screening and action tool [PDF, 1.6 MB]
Sepsis hypoperfusion pathway [PDF, 694 KB]
Empiric antibiotic guidance [PDF, 115 KB]
Patient deterioration and sepsis factsheet(external link) Health Quality & Safety Commission NZ
For more resources, visit Sepsis Trust NZ(external link)
Goodfellow unit short course (30 mins)
Could this be sepsis?(external link) Goodfellow Unit, NZ, 2024
The following resources come from Health Quality & Safety Commission Te Tāhū Hauora(external link) and are designed to support the early recognition and treatment of sepsis in healthcare settings.
Clinical guide to sepsis management(external link)
Clinical governance for sepsis(external link)
Adult sepsis pathway(external link)
Paediatric sepsis pathway(external link)
Maternal sepsis pathway(external link)
Hypoperfusion sepsis pathway(external link)
National sepsis pathway user guide(external link)
Sepsis quality improvement – measurement guide(external link)
Blood culture diagnostic stewardship for adults(external link)
The following learning tools are designed to help staff improve their knowledge, skills and confidence in recognising and responding to sepsis early. They support implementation of the Raise the Flag national sepsis quality improvement package. They were developed by Health Quality & Safety Commission Te Tāhū Hauora(external link) in collaboration with Sepsis Trust NZ(external link).
Sepsis training slides(external link)
Sepsis staff knowledge survey(external link)
In-person training resources(external link)
Simulation checklist(external link)
Sepsis pathways(external link)
Credits: Healthify editorial team. Healthify is brought to you by Health Navigator Charitable Trust.
