Congratulations to the recipient of the 10th Annual LAMMICO Patient Safety Award and Grant: St. Bernard Parish Hospital in Chalmette, Louisiana. The 2024-2025 Patient Safety Award and Grant centered on early recognition of sepsis. Identification and response to sepsis should be urgent and protocol-based, as it is a time-critical emergency. Currently there are changing definitions of sepsis, various sepsis screening tools, standardized treatment bundles, and risk mitigation strategies available. Incorporating sepsis treatment guidelines should be an important part of clinical care.
Grant applicants completed a sepsis course in LAMMICO’s learning management system. The course focused on information about the clinical manifestations of sepsis, screening for the recognition of sepsis and septic shock, and liability risks and mitigation strategies associated with sepsis.
By demonstrating the best improvements (in policies, procedures, protocols and/or processes) related to a reduction in annual mortality rates after completing this risk management and patient safety education, St. Bernard Parish Hospital (SBPH) was awarded:
- $10,000 grant for nursing professional development
- One-year Risk Manager membership to the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM)
The team at SBPH reassessed strategies and trends to formulate additional actions for sepsis care with a goal to improve compliance with the sepsis treatment bundle, and ultimately decrease sepsis related mortality. They used a sepsis dashboard to generate data, improve compliance with sepsis order set, facilitate concurrent review and collaboration with frontline staff and providers. Some of the key drivers of their success include daily concurrent review of patients with sepsis; real-time provider and staff feedback; fostering a culture of safety; celebrating wins and achievements; and nursing shared governance to encourage front line staff engagement in sepsis care. Through their efforts, SBPH saw improvement in their early identification and sepsis care bundle.
Union General Hospital Also Recognized
Union General Hospital in Farmerville, Louisiana, is the second-place participant of the Patient Safety Award and Grant. A grant of $5,000 for nursing professional development and a one-year Risk Manager membership to ASHRM was presented to this hospital in recognition of this honor.
While participating in the grant program, the hospital strengthened its sepsis response by updating and reeducating clinical staff on sepsis screening and treatment protocols, streamlining early sepsis recognition processes in the emergency department and inpatient unit, and reinforcing critical timing benchmarks to align with national best practices. Union General Hospital’s enhancements focused on improving adherence to their Hour-1 bundle while fostering consistent interdisciplinary communication and timely execution of care.
LAMMICO commends these two hospitals and all others who submitted award applications, for their commitment to improving patient safety.
For more information about the LAMMICO Patient Safety Award and Grant program, visit lammico.com/grant. The 2025-2026 topic is skin and pressure injury reduction. Applications are due May 31, 2026.
