Blood Poisoning: Waikato ED Nurse Who Nearly Died From Sepsis Speaks Out

Paige Nicholson, 27, remembers falling out of unconsciousness, shaking in her bed and not being able to stand up.

“It took all my energy to yell at my dad for help.”

It was a cold July morning when the then 25-year-old nearly died of sepsis, also known as blood poisoning.

The Waikato ED Nurse speaks today on World Sepsis Day to help raise awareness of the preventable killer that claims more lives than lung, breast and bowel cancer combined.

Sepsis is a life-threatening organ failure caused by an uncontrolled immune response to infection and every four seconds someone in the world dies from it.

Nicholson said the infection first appeared as a cold for her on a Friday night after finishing a busy mid-winter shift in the Waikato Hospital emergency department.

Over the weekend, his condition worsened.

“I felt like I had been hit by a truck, I felt cold and tired. This mental fog took over me and I couldn’t stop shaking,” she said.

“I felt like I was going to die.”

But even as an ER nurse, she never considered it to be sepsis.

“I thought it could have been a kidney infection or something.”

Her mother took her to see her GP, who also did not suspect sepsis.

An ambulance took her to the Waikato Hospital emergency department, where she waited hours before a doctor saw her and thought it might be sepsis.

The blood poisoning was confirmed and it was later discovered that he had contracted community transmitted pneumonia.

He spent three days in the intensive care unit fighting for his life.

“I just remember thinking that I need to survive this.”

Fortunately, she did and was quickly discharged, but no one told her what would come next.

“I wish I knew I would have this sense of internal decay for so long.

“I wish someone had told me that I could expect to feel forgetful or that I could hope to lose my hair.”

“I wish someone had told me that just because I’m a nurse. It doesn’t mean I don’t need extra support when I get home.”

It took him six months to fully recover; for some, it takes years.

STNZ sponsor Professor Steve Chambers, a leading infectious disease specialist at the University of Otago, told the Herald that survivors of sepsis often require extensive post-hospital care, as blood poisoning could cause damage to major organs of the body, or even amputations, and require months of recuperative treatment.

Nicholson said she considers herself lucky to have been treated in time when 50,000 kiwis die each year.

Today, Sepsis Trust New Zealand (STNZ) is launching an action plan to help reduce the number of preventable deaths from sepsis in our country.

The New Zealand Action Plan Against Sepsis proposes the establishment of a National Sepsis Network (NSN) that would provide national leadership, create a sense of shared purpose and greater awareness of sepsis.

Chambers said they ultimately want to raise awareness of the severity of sepsis, but also if one could recognize the signs and symptoms early, it could save a life.

“We know that the major infection in New Zealand accounted for more than one in three hospital bed days and $ 1.5 billion in direct health expenditures in 2016 and that sepsis costs the same as maintaining the country’s trauma centers.

“Sepsis can be prevented and through an action plan that will include better use of clinical tools, more research on sepsis, education and through fundraising, we can raise awareness to save more lives and reduce the impact in the healthcare system under additional stress due to COVID-19 “

About sepsis:

• Sepsis is a life-threatening organ failure caused by an uncontrolled immune response to infection, and every four seconds someone in the world dies from it.

• Approximately 50,000 New Zealanders die of sepsis each year.

• The average cost for a person admitted to the hospital for sepsis is approximately $ 11,000.

• Maori and Pacific people are twice as likely to experience sepsis-related hospitalizations and deaths compared to the rest of the population.

• In 2016, a major infection in New Zealand accounted for more than one in three hospital bed days and $ 1.5 billion in direct healthcare costs. Many of these patients will have suffered from sepsis.