Sepsis in Nursing Homes

Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening complication of an infection. It can be a dangerous situation for anyone, but it’s especially grave to those who are older, disabled or have other medical conditions. It’s not unusual for Maryland nursing home residents to suffer from sepsis, often because the underlying infection isn’t treated properly, setting the stage for sepsis. Infections are a leading cause of deaths and complications for nursing home residents, according to the author of a 2014 study on infections in nursing homes, Carolyn Herzig, MS, project director of the Prevention of Nosocomial Infections & Cost Effectiveness in Nursing Homes (PNICE-NH) at the Columbia School of Nursing. With the exception of tuberculosis, researchers found a significant increase in infection rates “across the board.” Herzig stated, “Unless we can improve infection prevention and control in nursing homes, this problem is only going to get worse as the baby boomers age and people are able to live longer with increasingly complex, chronic diseases.” Herzig and researchers from Columbia Nursing and RAND Corporation reviewed how common infections were from 2006 to 2010 based on data that nursing homes provided the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Sepsis happens if chemicals released into the bloodstream to combat the infection also trigger inflammation throughout the body, according to the Mayo Clinic. This can cause a number of changes that can result in damage to multiple organs, ultimately causing them to fail. Sepsis can progress to septic shock, which can cause blood pressure to drop dramatically and may lead to death. Sepsis is most common and most dangerous in older adults or those with weakened immune systems. Treatment for sepsis in its early stage before it becomes more dangerous, normally with antibiotics and large amounts of intravenous fluids, improves the

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