A Coordinated and Multidisciplinary Strategy can Reduce the Time for Antibiotics in Septic Patients at a University Hospital

Objectives: We carried out this work with the aim of assessing the effectiveness of a set of interventions over time for the administration of antibiotics. Design: Prospective observational study. Setting: Patients admitted to the emergency room and ICU of the hospital where the study was conducted are evaluated daily for some sociodemographic and clinical variables. Among them are some quality indicators, such as the time between the diagnosis of sepsis or septic shock until the start of the infusion of antibiotics. This indicator reflects several aspects related to a set of assistance measures (adequacy of antibiotic dispensation, rapid response team (RRT), sepsis care quality improvement program, antimicrobial management program, improvements in emergency department assistance). Patients or participants: Patients with sepsis or septic shock were admitted to the ICU of a university and public hospital in southern Brazil. Main variables of interest:The time between the diagnosis of sepsis or septic shock and the beginning of the infusion of antibiotics. Results: Between 2013 and 2018, 1676 patients were evaluated. The mean time for antibiotic infusion decreased from 6.1 & PLUSMN; 8.6 hours to 1.7 & PLUSMN; 2.9 hours (p < 0.001). The percentage of patients who received antibiotics in the first hour increased from 20.7 to 59.0% (p < 0.001). Conclusion: In this study, we demonstrated that a set of actions adopted in a large tertiary hospital was associated with decreased time to start antibiotic therapy in septic patients.