By Haley Heisley

“Hi, my name is Haley, and I will be your nurse today!”

I introduce each article this way because that is how I introduce myself to each of my patients when I begin a shift. I started this blog when I graduated nursing school back in May 2024, sharing my knowledge and experience through my first nursing job on a Medical-Surgical Unit. Now I’m continuing to share my experience during my transition into the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

I have met so many patients between my nursing clinical and shifts as a nurse that shared with me their concerns of how they never knew about certain diseases or the prevention of them before they were diagnosed. Now, as they lay in a hospital bed, I educate them on the maintenance and care that each diagnosis needs. Some of these diagnoses are not just the flu or something acute, but rather something like diabetes that is a chronic condition my patients will now have to live with for the rest of their lives. It is sad to just provide education once disaster or a crisis already had struck. I started this column with the hopes of providing education before the hospital and to hopefully even be able to prevent that trip to the emergency room in the first place.

Sepsis is a disease process that is very prevalent in the patients I now take care of in the ICU. Sepsis is triggered by a bacterial, fungal or viral infection, something like pneumonia, a UTI or wound infection for example. Typically with an infection, you will see symptoms that are localized to that affected area. For example, if you have an infected wound on your leg, you would expect to see redness, swelling, warmth and maybe some drainage from the site.

However with sepsis on top of that initial infection and its symptoms, your body has a different response. With sepsis, your immune system has a life-threatening reaction where instead of helping you, it attacks your own body and organs. If unrelated systemic symptoms are noticed on top of the expected infection symptoms—like high heart rate, no urine output, difficulty breathing, a change/decline in mental status or loss of consciousness/confusion, and/or a drop in blood pressure—immediate medical attention should be sought.  With sepsis, inflammation occurs throughout your body, which can lead to organ failure, septic shock and even death if not treated or treated too late. 

Sepsis can affect anyone of any age, but those most at risk are the elderly, pregnant women and newborns, people with compromised immune systems, people who have indwelling objects like catheters and breathing tubes, and those with prolonged hospitalizations. If you come to the hospital with sepsis, you can expect doctors to grab some blood work, take your vital signs and start some antibiotics for your initial infection, along with some IV fluids to restore perfusion to your organs.

The most important thing with sepsis is to catch it early, I cannot emphasize this part enough! Understanding your body is key to knowing when something is wrong. You are your own expert on yourself and those around you, which makes you a huge part of both the identification and the treatment of any illness. Each person experiences health-related concerns in different ways, so you may experience symptoms different than these listed. When in doubt, always seek medical attention from your primary care provider, local urgent care or emergency room.