Speaking To Patients

Speaking to patients and family members about sepsis is one of the most important things healthcare professionals can do. It can be difficult to find the right approach to discuss the immediate and long-term effects of the condition because sepsis is still not well known or understood.

Sepsis Alliance provides information and resources that can be used by any healthcare professional to help with patient education. Selected downloadable and printable resources can be found at the bottom of the page, with more found in the Resource Library. All downloads are free of charge. If you are looking for professional resources and training, please visit Sepsis Alliance Institute.

The resources found here may also be helpful for patients and family members who have not received such information when they were hospitalized or being discharged.

Website Resources

If you are looking for ways to speak with patients and family members about sepsis, here are some website resources that may help:

  • Sepsis Basics: This top menu bar section has links to information like What is Sepsis, Risk Factors, Symptoms, and more.
  • Related Conditions: The Sepsis and library addresses over 50 conditions and other circumstances that are somehow connected to sepsis.
  • FAQs: Sepsis Alliance has collected many of the most frequently asked questions about sepsis.
  • Caregivers: You may find it helpful to give the Caregiver Guide to the patient’s loved ones so they have a better idea of what is happening. Caregivers can also join Sepsis Alliance Connect to find support from others.
  • Children: Sepsis Alliance also has resources for children, both for those who have sepsis and for their siblings or other young relatives and friends. Bug, Sepsis Alliance’s friendly ladybug, helps young children understand infections and how to prevent them.
  • Post-sepsis syndrome: Many sepsis survivors are left with lasting effects from their illness, including chronic fatigue, depression, and symptoms of PTSD. Post-sepsis syndrome (PSS) is becoming more known in the medical community, but still too many healthcare providers don’t know about or understand the issues related to PSS.
  • Support for Survivors and Loved Ones: Sepsis Alliance Connect is a virtual support community designed for the millions of people personally affected by sepsis.
  • Multi-Language Resources: Sepsis Alliance has selected resources available in Spanish, Tagalog, Chinese, and Vietnamese. The sepsis.org website can also be translated into multiple languages by clicking the accessibility menu icon that appears on the bottom right corner of every website page.

Updated February 10, 2025.

Downloadable and Printable Resources

When a Loved One Has Sepsis: A Caregiver’s Guide
Guide
PreviewDownload
Sepsis Fact Sheet
Fact Sheet
PreviewDownload
Sepsis Alliance Connect Printable Flyer
Infographic
PreviewDownload
Tienes Sepsis. Ahora ¿Qué Sigue?
Information Guide
PreviewDownload

Tienes Sepsis. Ahora ¿Qué Sigue?

  • To submit this form you are required to enter your first name, last name, a valid email address and your role.

  • Submit

You Have Sepsis. Now What? (for children)
Information Guide
PreviewDownload

You Have Sepsis. Now What? (for children)

  • To submit this form you are required to enter your first name, last name, a valid email address and your role.

  • Submit

Life After Sepsis – Español
Information Guide
PreviewDownload

Life After Sepsis – Español

  • To submit this form you are required to enter your first name, last name, a valid email address and your role.

  • Submit

Life After Sepsis
Trifold
PreviewDigitalPrint

Life After Sepsis

My Guide to Sepsis and the Intensive Care Unit – Children
Information Guide
PreviewDownload

My Guide to Sepsis and the Intensive Care Unit – Children

  • To submit this form you are required to enter your first name, last name, a valid email address and your role.

  • Submit

After Discharge Checklist
Checklist
PreviewDownload
Life After Sepsis
Information Guide
PreviewDownload

Life After Sepsis

  • To submit this form you are required to enter your first name, last name, a valid email address and your role.

  • Submit

Life After Sepsis
Video
View
Life After Sepsis Fact Sheet
Fact Sheet
PreviewDownload

For additional free downloadable and printable resources, visit the Sepsis Alliance Resource Library.

Sepsis Alliance Institute

Are you looking to connect with other healthcare professionals to see how they communicate with the public? Or you want to learn more about managing sepsis?

Elevate your sepsis care with education, resources, and peer-to-peer networking. Sepsis Alliance Institute provides online sepsis education including best practices in sepsis recognition, treatment, and care. There are training modules and webinars (live and recorded), many with free RN CE credits.

Faces of Sepsis

Sharon De Pauw

It started out with intolerable pain in my shoulder. I was brought to the hospital by ambulance but the ER doctors had me sent up to a general patient floor (instead of ICU), and I went into respiratory arrest. A ‘Code Blue’ was called. My husband was called back to the hospital, to ICU. He was told by the nurse over the phone that I had ‘taken a turn for the worst’, and had stopped breathing. I was taken down to ICU. When my husband returned to the hospital (ICU) and met up with the doctor, he told my husband ... Read Full Story

Submit Your StoryView More Stories

Marie Mubaiwa

I had what I thought was a cold. I just took cough medicine until the next day I started having chest pains and heart palpitations. At first I thought it would go away. People thought I was overreacting until something told me this doesn’t feel right. I became breathless and called for an ambulance. They didn’t have any available for four hours so I used the little strength I had to get an Uber to the emergency services. When I got there I was quickly admitted the last thing I remember was being told I had pneumonia and being taken ... Read Full Story

Submit Your StoryView More Stories

Daryl Crandell

I was in hospital for 7 weeks and was discharged 3 weeks ago. I need a heart valve transplant, my kidneys are at 40% function and my lungs had 14 abscesses. I still have pain in ankles, hips,  shoulders  and hands, I also lost 3.3 stone. PSS the doctors call it. My cartilage and tendons are destroyed and I’ve been given 5 years to live but I’m going to prove them wrong. I thought I had gout until both feet and hands swelled like balloons, I had an appointment with a GP in 4 days time but I was lucky ... Read Full Story

Submit Your StoryView More Stories

Tammy W.

Here is my story. I had never heard of sepsis before I prayed that I would get pregnant and did I asked the Lord would he give me a baby girl and he did. I had a doctor appointment the next day. I went in and had a UTI they said but my baby doctor wasn’t too concerned about it so we went to the ultrasound appointment. My water broke and I didn’t know it so they took me to delivery. I was 34 weeks pregnant so my baby was born and then in NICU. I stayed in the hospital ... Read Full Story

Submit Your StoryView More Stories

Lacy Taylor

My sepsis story occurred while hiking in the Himalayas of Nepal in October 2023. However, it began a month before when I had a bad treadmill accident in which my foot fell and was trapped between the wall and my treadmill belt for a solid 30 seconds. This incident peeled my skin back, exposing the ligament. This wound had mostly healed by the time I started my trek in Nepal, but unfortunately reopened during my days of hiking through the villages. After a few days, I was diagnosed with a Staph infection at the injury site and given antibiotics for ... Read Full Story

Submit Your StoryView More Stories
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Copyright ©2025 Sepsis Alliance. All rights reserved.

3180 University Ave., Suite 310; San Diego, CA 92104

Sepsis Alliance is a tax-exempt organization under Sections 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions are deductible for computing income estate taxes.
Sepsis Alliance tax ID 38-3110993.