The chances are, there is a word in my headline that you haven't heard before.

Sepsis.

Am I right? 

The fact that you may not have heard of sepsis makes it all the more important for you to find out all you can about this dreadful illness...which comes about through the most innocent and simple of situations.

Make no mistake, sepsis kills. Efficiently. And quickly. However, sepsis is vulnerable. But you must be ready to fight back. Quickly. Accurately. That is the only way sepsis can be beaten.

I'm no technical or medical expert. All I can do is spread the word of those who understand why and how this awful illness affects so many people. 

I have published several posts raising awareness of sepsis. But this is the first one to come directly from a group of nurses dedicated to:  "sharing knowledge and experiences to improve practice and care for the patient with sepsis."

So, over now to this post from South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, on behalf of UK Sepsis Nurse Forum:
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                                by UK Sepsis Nurse Forum

Sepsis is a life threatening condition that arises when the body's response to an infection injures its own tissues and organs. Sepsis leads to shock, multiple organ failure and death, especially if it is not recognised early and treated promptly.
 
Sepsis can be caused by a huge variety of different bugs, most cases being caused by common bacteria which we all come into contact with every day without making us ill. Sometimes though, the body responds abnormally to these infections and causes sepsis.
 
If you have one symptom from each list, medical help must be sought immediately:

• Early signs of flu-like illness
• Chest infection
• Diarrhoea and vomiting
• Inability to eat or drink

 
And

• S – Slurred speech
• E – Extreme shivering or muscle pain
• P – Passing no urine in a day
• S – Severe breathlessness
• I – I feel like I might die
• S – Skin mottled or discoloured

 
If you would like to know more, please visit www.sepsistrust.org.
 
Sepsis nurses
 
Many hospitals are starting to appoint a sepsis nurse. The role of the sepsis nurse was introduced by Ron Daniels, Chief Executive of the UK Sepsis Trust. The role can vary between hospitals but listed below are some common duties. A constant driver is pivotal to the success of organisational change.
 
Education: the sepsis nurse will teach all staff to recognise and manage sepsis urgently.
 
Audit: the role involves reviewing medical notes and feeding back to the staff what we did we do well, how and where can we improve, and ensuring progress is monitored, measured and publicised.
 
Public awareness: empowering the public to ask your clinician ‘could this be sepsis?’
 
Clinical expert: to be a clinical advisor and resource to the staff and public.
 
Board advisor: ensures the trust boards are aware of what is going on in their organisation with regards to sepsis.
 
Responder: clinically responds to patients with sepsis.
 
Coordinator: ensures the sepsis improvement project is a success as opposed to fragmented pockets of work.
 
As Dr Ron Daniels continues his drive against sepsis across the UK, the role of the sepsis nurse has proliferated. There are now 66 members of the UK Sepsis Nurse Forum and it is on the increase. If you are leading for sepsis in your organisation please contact @uksepsisnurses through their Twitter account.

Other contacts for Sepsis:
​UK Sepsis Trust:  www.sepsistrust.org  and www.twitter.com/uksepsistrust
Dr Ron Daniels, CEO, UK Sepsis Trust: www.twitter.com/SepsisUK 

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Defying Mental Illness is a Community Interest Company (CIC), reaching out to the community of those challenged with mental illness,  their caregivers, their families, and beyond.

Its vision: to put a full stop to the suffering, discrimination and stigma of those challenged with mental illness, and their loved ones.

I am honoured and pleased to welcome today's guest blogger, Zoe A. Onah, from this caring and hard-working organisation , who explains that mental illness can be a lonely and cruel world. Over to you, Zoe. 

During the arrangements for her funeral service I noticed a distinct lack of gentleness, compassion and love as boxes were ticked and paper work was completed. We spoke about her life in order for the minister to write a eulogy…but no choice was offered and I was left walking away from her goodbye wishing it had been different. From that moment on I knew that I had to work amongst the bereaved. If I was going to have to live with this immense pain then I had to at least do something with it so that I could give it a reason for being in my heart. This resulted in me six years later, once I was strong enough, training as a Funeral Celebrant.

My intention is that every single family I serve is held softly and with empathy. I may not understand ‘their’ grief but I do know how crushing grief is and I care very, very deeply about their pain. I offer guidance and strength but allow them to have as much creative control as they need because I truly believe that the ceremony belongs to them. I am simply the middle ground, the one who is there to shape this goodbye into one that they want and do not wish to take possession of it.

                                                          Beliefs And Wishes Of The Family

The services I offer therefore are centred around the beliefs and wishes of the family. My beliefs don’t come into it because it’s not about me. This then enables me to write and lead a service that has no reference to religion or spirituality whatsoever. I am happy too to write and lead a service with more of a spiritual nature woven throughout, to also speak of God, say prayers and hold the image of heaven for the family. Either way, I ensure that each service is written individually and is as unique as the life it is celebrating and remembering; each one being filled with care. Equally, they will reflect the life and character of the loved one and there’s no reason why their funniest stories can’t be shared, with laughter just a much a part of their goodbye as tears.

But being a celebrant is not as simple as writing a few words and delivering them with fluidity to a congregation of mourners. It goes much deeper than that and it begins at the first meeting with the family. This first step requires intuition without assumption and an ability to listen to what is not being said as much as what is. The celebrant also must be able to sit with all different types of loss and grief, holding the family in whatever way they need to be held, through whatever bereavement they are having to endure. It could be the expected loss of an elderly parent, a son killed suddenly on his motorbike, a suicide, a baby. All are incredibly different and each will hold their own challenges.

                                                                   Opportunity For Healing

Especially when you find yourself in the middle of a domestic warzone where no one agrees and you are having to be the mediator and diplomat amongst a bitter estrangement. There could potentially be years of bad feeling and hurt held within a family’s history and during a time like this it can all erupt. Yet you must treat all with care, all with understanding and try to find ways to ensure the service is, if anything, an opportunity for healing. Sometimes it’s not possible.

This is why a celebrant must work from the heart first and foremost, and be a good public speaker second. Whilst delivering the service, to rely on public speaking skills alone – without use of empathic tone or expression – will make the service feel insincere or scripted. Yet sounding over familiar about a person you have never met can be just as insincere. It’s all about balance and knowing when to perhaps lift the mood with a humorous memory the family has asked to be shared whilst maintaining the undercurrent of a very heartfelt reverence for what it is you are doing.

                                                                                Heartbreak

There is heartbreak, pain and hurt always, and this must be met and acknowledged in a way that is right for the individual family.

My approach to this work and vocation as a celebrant and as a member of the Fellowship of Professional Celebrants, is always very much heart-based and I feel truly blessed to be able to help others in this way. In fact it has helped to heal my own grief. If I can stop one bereaved individual from ever having to wish that their loved one’s goodbye was different, then there is my purpose. And my beautiful mother didn’t die in vain.
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              Caroline's Family Celebrant website:  http://www.westmidlandcelebrant.co.uk/