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
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Sepsis Fact Sheet
Fact Sheet
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Sepsis Alliance Connect Printable Flyer
Infographic
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Tienes Sepsis. Ahora ¿Qué Sigue?
Information Guide
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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.

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

Life After Sepsis – Español
Information Guide
PreviewDownload

Life After Sepsis – Español

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Life After Sepsis
Trifold
PreviewDigitalPrint

Life After Sepsis

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

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After Discharge Checklist
Checklist
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Life After Sepsis
Information Guide
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Life After Sepsis

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Life After Sepsis
Video
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Life After Sepsis Fact Sheet
Fact Sheet
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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

Petra Haans

I didn’t feel good for a long time. I went to the hospital three times but they didn’t take me seriously and sent me away. I had so much pain!
Because they didn’t took me seriously, I started to doubt myself.
But there was so much stress and pain.
Not so many days later the ambulance came and took me to the hospital, they let me be more and more sick, threw up blood. I was in a coma already.
Where the doctors let me threw up blood for two days before they started to do medical research on me.
Because of all this stress, ... Read Full Story

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Frank B.

This is my story. I am 64 years old. My encounter with septic shock took place in June 2023. I was driving a tractor trailer in an Over the Road capacity working towards a client in East Peoria, IL. What led to my stay in the ICU of a hospital in Urbana IL was a kidney stone roughly 1 cm in diameter dropping out of my kidney and blocking the passageway (ureter) to the bladder. (Sepsis and Kidney Stones) Urine backed up leading to the sepsis condition. My recollection of my condition constituted a diminished capacity to safely operate the ... Read Full Story

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Braxton Bumgarner

Braxton is a 13-year-old 7th grader. 5 months ago on August 1, 2024, he said his knee hurt. The next day, it hurt worse, so his Dad took him to urgent care. The doctor basically told him he didn’t really know what pain was even though he said it was a 10. My husband asked if it could be an infection and he said no, he wasn’t showing any signs, even though he never did anything other than an x-ray. He told us to rotate Motrin and Tylenol for the pain. 2 days later we took him to our local ... Read Full Story

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John Marchiando

In 2023 I returned from a company event in Las Vegas not feeling well. The next day, I felt tired, so thought I’d take a nap (which I NEVER do), so I laid down. I was having trouble breathing, so thought “that’s not a good thing” and decided to drive to urgent care. They told me that “I was too sick to be there and that I needed to go to the hospital”. They put me in an ambulance and sent me there, where I was told that I have bilateral pneumonia. (Sepsis and Pneumonia) I was eventually put on ... Read Full Story

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Elly V.

I had just given birth to our perfect and precious son. I had a wonderful birth and was so happy to finally meet our little blessing and begin the journey of parenthood with my husband. I remember in preparation to leave the hospital I did not feel well. I noticed I kept needing to walk hunched over because of some pain I was having. As a woman who had just experienced childbirth for the first time, I had no idea what feelings were normal or abnormal. I kept telling myself that women give birth all the time – this must ... Read Full Story

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