| Hello Nurse Execs! Here are the top stories of the past week in our CNO pillar. CNOs everywhere must focus on sepsis, which afflicts 1.7 million Americans every year, at least 350,000 of whom die in the hospital or hospice. Nicole Telhiard, CNO at Our Lady of the Lake Health, says nurse execs must ensure that front-line staff are trained and equipped to deal with this potentially fatal malady. At Our Lady, clinical leaders crafted a nurse-led sepsis advisory in the ED to contend with the tedious sepsis BPA alerts in the health system's EPIC platform. The clinical team collaborated to ask two big questions that provide an alternative to the BPA alerts in clinical documentation. 1: Is the patient presenting with an altered mental status? 2: Do you in your expertise believe the patient is presenting with infection? "These two key questions allow nurses to use their expertise and their input," Telhiard says. "After answering those questions, it then goes through some of those other cycles of clinical data that we were using to really formulate and help us initiate our sepsis protocol." Also this week, policymakers should seek the expertise of nurse leaders when considering legislation that will affect nursing. HealthLeaders CNO Exchange members say there are several ways that CNOs can get embrace political advocacy. First, CNOs should brush up on their knowledge of how laws are made and educate themselves on policy issues. Second, CNOs must ask for support from their peers and join policy circles. Lastly, CNOs should visit their legislators in their communities, attend town halls, and gain and leverage their support. | 
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How a Sepsis Protocol Is Changing Care Delivery for ED Nurses
