Pharmacist impact on time to antibiotic administration in patients with sepsis in an ED.

Purpose: The purpose was to determine if the physical presence of a clinical pharmacist in the emergency department (ED) would decrease antibiotic order to administration time in adult patients with sepsis, severe sepsis, or septic shock.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of adult patients presenting to the ED between January and December 2014 with a diagnosis of sepsis, severe sepsis, or septic shock who required intravenous antibiotics.

Results: A total of 186 patients (92 patients when an ED pharmacist was present and 94 when no ED pharmacist was present) were included in the analysis.