Abstract
Purpose
The purpose was to determine if the physical presence of a clinical pharmacist in
the emergency department (ED) would decrease antibiotic order to administration time
in adult patients with sepsis, severe sepsis, or septic shock.
Methods
We conducted a retrospective review of adult patients presenting to the ED between
January and December 2014 with a diagnosis of sepsis, severe sepsis, or septic shock
who required intravenous antibiotics.
Results
A total of 186 patients (92 patients when an ED pharmacist was present and 94 when
no ED pharmacist was present) were included in the analysis. Baseline characteristics
were similar between groups. When a pharmacist was present, patients received antibiotics
sooner (median 0.61 vs 0.88 hour, P = .001), Surviving Sepsis Campaign goals for antibiotic administration time were more
likely to be met (88% vs 72%, P = .0097), and initial antibiotics were appropriate more often (97% vs 81%, P = .0008). No significant differences were noted in intensive care unit length of stay,
hospital length of stay, ventilator days, or in-hospital mortality.
Conclusions
Physical presence of a clinical pharmacist in the ED decreased time to administration
and increased appropriateness of intravenous antibiotics for adult patients with sepsis,
severe sepsis, or septic shock.
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: July 19, 2016
Accepted:
July 17,
2016
Received in revised form:
July 16,
2016
Received:
June 5,
2016
Footnotes
☆No conflicts of interest to disclose.
☆☆No financial support for this research.
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
