Sepsis Guidelines and Protocols: Providing Care to Patients
Page reviewed and updated: September 2025
The diagnosis of sepsis is one of the most challenging. Sepsis affects millions of people worldwide and one in four of the people affected will die. The way we recognize and treat sepsis has changed over the years; the most recent update being the
Surviving Sepsis Campaign: International Guidelines for Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock 2021. The guidelines emphasize that patients with sepsis should be viewed as having a medical emergency, necessitating urgent assessment and treatment. The resources in this collection focus on sepsis identification and goal-directed treatment according to current guidelines and definitions. Use these resources to improve the way you provide care to patients with sepsis.
Podcast
Listen is as Megan Doble, DNP, FNP-C, AGACNP-C, reviews the basics of sepsis and the latest recommendations on managing patients with sepsis.
From the Desk of the Chief Nurse
BLOG Let’s Change the Trajectory of Sepsis
Anne Dabrow Woods, DNP, RN, CRNP, ANP-BC, AGACNP-BC, FAAN
The story is too common – a person feels unwell and after a few days ends up going to their primary care provider or an urgent care center. They are evaluated, sent home, and several days later end up back in the office and evaluated again. This cycle continues until eventually the person’s health deteriorates to the point of crisis and they end up in the emergency department (ED). Once they arrive in the ED, they’re found to have sepsis and admitted. In many cases, they arrive profoundly hypotensive and are admitted to the intensive care unit with septic shock. Keep reading...
Guideline Summaries
Sepsis Articles & Resources
Gastrointestinal and Nutritional Support, Endocrine, and Hematological Considerations in Sepsis
Critical Care Nursing Quarterly, July/September 2025
Pathophysiology of Sepsis
Critical Care Nursing Quarterly, April/June 2025
Antimicrobials in the Management of Sepsis in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU)
Critical Care Nursing Quarterly, April/June 2025
Early Recognition of Sepsis in Prehospital Settings, A Review of Screening Tools and Practices
Advanced Emergency Nursing Journal, April/June 2025
Exploring Alternate Targets for Respiratory Resuscitation in Patients With Sepsis and Septic Shock
Critical Care Nursing Quarterly, April/June 2025
CE Ultrasound-Guided Fluid Volume Management in Patients With Septic Shock: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Journal of Trauma Nursing, March/April 2025
POCKET CARD Recognizing and Managing Sepsis
Lippincott® NursingCenter®, February 2024
ED Nurse-Led Code Sepsis to Reduce Time to Antibiotics
Advanced Emergency Nursing Journal, January/March 2025
Evaluating Sepsis Bundle Compliance as a Predictor for Patient Outcomes at a Community Hospital: A Retrospective Study
Journal of Nursing Care Quality, July/September 2024
Embracing a New Evidence-Based Thought Paradigm of Sepsis
Clinical Nurse Specialist, July/August 2024
Multimodal Quality Initiatives in Sepsis Care: Assessing Impact on Core Measures and Outcomes
Journal for Healthcare Quality, July/August 2024
CE Sepsis best practices: Definitions, guidelines, and updates
Nursing2024, June 2024
Clinical decision support tools useful for identifying sepsis risk
Nursing2024, April 2024
BLOG Laboratory signs of sepsis [Infographic]
Lippincott® NursingCenter®, March 2024
BLOG Improving Hospital Sepsis Programs
Lippincott® NursingCenter®, September 2023
Sepsis Risk Is Yet Another Reason to Avoid Long-Term Opioid Use
Topics in Pain Management, May 2023
Quality Improvement to Promote Sepsis Reassessment: The Sepsis Reassessment Protocol Improvement Project (SRPIP)
Journal of Nursing Care Quality, April/June 2023
CE Evidence-Based Updates to the 2021 Surviving Sepsis Campaign Guidelines Part 1: Background, Pathophysiology, and Emerging Treatments
The Nurse Practitioner, November 2022
CE Evidence-Based Updates to the 2021 Surviving Sepsis Campaign Guidelines Part 2: Guideline Review and Clinical Application
The Nurse Practitioner, December 2022
REadmission PREvention in SepSis: Development and Validation of a Prediction Model
Journal for Healthcare Quality, May/June 2022
BLOG The 4 Components of Source Control in Sepsis
Lippincott® NursingCenter®, February 2022
Development of a Novel Assessment Tool and Code Sepsis Checklist for Neonatal Late-Onset Sepsis
Advances in Neonatal Care, February 2022
Emergency Department Initiative to Improve Sepsis Core Measure Compliance: A Hospital Network Approach
Critical Care Nursing Quarterly, January/March 2022
A Quality Improvement Initiative to Evaluate the Effectiveness of the ABCDEF Bundle on Sepsis Outcomes
Critical Care Nursing Quarterly, January/March 2022