i work at north central bronx hospital
Assignment Description
Use of Bundles and Protocols to Improve Care
Bundles, protocols, and guidelines are all important in the care of the ICU patient and to standardize care to improve quality and outcomes. Nomenclature of these items is often confusing and overlapping. For the purpose of this review, guidelines are evidence-based statements on how to provide optimal care for a particular patient condition, such as what antibiotics should be routinely used for undifferentiated ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). Protocols are then an extension of those guidelines, particularly centered on patient care flow or how to “operationalize” a guideline based on the structure of one’s own ICU. In many organizations, the terms “protocol” and “guidelines” are used more or less interchangeably, likely due to perceived legal ramifications of using certain terms over others. An ICU bundle is a set of treatment goals (usually three to seven) that when grouped and achieved together over a finite time span, are believed to promote optimal outcomes.
Initially, care bundles were promulgated by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Bundle-driven care is grounded in evidence-based medicine. The various components of the bundle have been shown in various studies to be effective, although all components of individual bundles may not have the backing of level-one evidence, namely, two or more randomized controlled trials. Bundles exist for many disease patterns, such as VAP, preventing surgical site infections, or treatment of sepsis.
In your initial post, locate a bundle, protocol, or guideline used at your place of employment. Once you obtained the document, upload it to the Discussion Board as an attachment.
Once you have attached the document, complete the following statement or question.
Write a short overview of the bundle, protocol, or guideline that you choose for the Discussion Board.
Is your bundle, protocol, or guideline grounded in Evidence-Based Medicine?
How does your bundle, protocol, or guideline promote consistency in the care of the clinical condition?
