Great question perhaps without a good answer. The definition of "suspected infection" varies with who is doing the defining and suspecting.
At one end of the spectrum, one might suspect infection only when there are signs of SIRS and/or tangible clues about a source. At the other end of the spectrum, one might suspect infection when acute organ dysfunction lacks a convincing alternative explanation... or when one is unwilling to accept the potential risks of untreated infection. Experience and skill are necessary to fill this gap. I look forward to other answers. Ron Elkin, MD California Pacific Medical Center San Francisco On Thu, Sep 19, 2013 at 3:00 PM, Joseph Clement <[email protected]>wrote: > > Hello, > > We are seeing great variation in how "suspected infection" is interpreted > by triage RNs in our ED, resulting in patients being missed. Has anybody > created any guidelines to define this and make it more consistent/objective? > > Thank you, > > Joe > Joseph Clement RN, MS, CCNS > Clinical Nurse Specialist > > San Francisco General Hospital > phone: (415) 206-6174 > pager: (415) 327-0220 > [email protected] > > > _______________________________________________ > Sepsisgroups mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.sepsisgroups.org/listinfo.cgi/sepsisgroups-sepsisgroups.org > >
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