Royal College of Physicians (2017) National Early Warning Score (NEWS) 2.

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Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (2022) Statement on the initial antimicrobial treatment of sepsis V2.0. London: AoMRC.

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The UK Sepsis Trust: Clinical tools

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The UK Sepsis Trust (2024) The sepsis manual. 7th edn. Birmingham: The UK Sepsis Trust.

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NHS England: Sepsis.

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National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2016) Sepsis: recognition, diagnosis and early management. NICE guideline NG51. Updated 31 January 2024.

• Please check that guidance is applicable for your country. NICE guidance is officially England and Wales only.
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NHS England (2017) Sepsis guidance implementation advice for adults, London: NHS England.

• This document describes an operational definition of sepsis and supports the implementation of the NICE guidelines on the identification and treatment of sepsis.
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Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (2023) Care of the deteriorating patient: consensus recommendations 167, Edinburgh: SIGN.

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Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) (2023) Spotlight on sepsis: your stories, your rights.

• This report looks at some of the sepsis complaints people have brought to the PHSO, to shine a light on their experiences and encourage others to let their voices be heard
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Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) (2013) Time to act: severe sepsis - rapid diagnosis and treatment saves lives.

• This report focuses on ten complaints the PHSO investigated about patients with severe sepsis who did not receive the treatment they urgently needed.
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National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (2015) Sepsis: just say sepsis!

• This NCEPOD report highlights the process of care for patients aged 16 years or older with sepsis. The report takes a critical look at areas where the care of patients might have been improved.
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Evans L, Rhodes A, Alhazzani W et al. (2021) Executive summary: Surviving Sepsis Campaign: international guidelines for the management of sepsis and septic shock 2021, Critical Care Medicine, 49(11), pp. 1974–1982.

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Evans L, Rhodes A, Alhazzani W et al. (2021) Surviving Sepsis Campaign: international guidelines for management of sepsis and septic shock 2021, Critical Care Medicine, 49(11), p. e1063.

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Singer M, Deutschman CS, Seymour C, et al. (2016) The third international consensus definitions for sepsis and septic shock (sepsis-3), JAMA, 315 (8) pp.801-810.

• Includes the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score.
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European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM): Guidelines and consensus statements

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We would like to thank the RCN Critical Care and In-flight nursing community for their input into the development of this subject guide.

Use these links for details of journal articles on each topic.

• Sepsis
• Septic shock

Journals of interest for sepsis. Use these links to see details of availability.

• Critical Care
• Intensive and Critical Care Nursing
• Journal of Critical Care
• Nursing in Critical Care