Nurses' Knowledge, Barriers and Practices in the Assessment of Delirium in the Intensive Care Unit

Delirium in intensive care patients is a complication associated with many adverse consequences. It negatively affects patient outcomes, is an independent predictor of mortality, prolongs intensive care unit (ICU) stay and causes cognitive impairment. It is estimated that delirium affects up to 80% of ICU patients. Unfortunately, delirium still remains undiagnosed in many cases. Due to the high prevalence of this complication in critically ill patients, it is important to implement an effective management protocol to prevent delirium.

Nurses' knowledge of delirium, learning about nursing practices and identifying barriers to delirium assessment, may be an important basis for early recognition and the creation of procedures for delirium prevention in the intensive care unit.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Delirium; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Critical Care Nursing
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Questionnaire

Detailed Description

The survey questionnaire is aimed at nurses working in the intensive care unit.

First, respondents are asked to answer questions on socio-demographic data. Then, two questionnaires were used to conduct the study:

1. The Nurses' Knowledge of Delirium questionnaire.

   The questionnaire consists of two parts:

   • The first part deals with questions related to the definition of delirium and the tools used to detect specific conditions.
   • In the second part, participants are asked to answer questions about delirium and its associated risk factors by ticking respectively "agree", "disagree" or "not sure" to a series of 28 statements.

   Fourteen of these statements relate to delirium, its symptoms and management, and 14 relate to risk factors for delirium.

2. Nursing Practices and Perceptions Towards Delirium in the Intensive Care Unit questionnaire.

The questionnaire consists of two parts:

• The first part consists of questions about sedation and delirium assessment.
• The second part deals with practices/opinions about delirium and its assessment, including identification of potential barriers to delirium assessment

Consents were obtained from the authors for the use of both research tools. Completion of the questionnaire is voluntary, anonymous and equivalent to giving informed consent to participate in the study.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 371

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Poland
  • Gdansk/Pomorskie, Poland
    • Gdańsk, Gdansk/Pomorskie, Poland, Poland, 80-211
      • Department of Internal and Pediatric Nursing/ Department of Anesthesiology Nursing & Intensive Care

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

The study group will include nurses working in an adult intensive care unit.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Nurses,
• ICU staff.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Other medical staff,
• children's ICU staff,
• nurses working in other departments.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Nurses	Other: Questionnaire; Questionnaire completed by ICU nurses

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Knowledge of delirium	Assessment of nurses' knowledge of delirium in the intensive care unit using The Nurses' Knowledge of Delirium questionnaire.	4 month
Barriers to delirium assessment	Identifying barriers to assessment and treatment of delirium in the intensive care unit using The Nursing Practices and Perceptions Towards Delirium in the Intensive Care Unit questionnaire.	4 month
Practices and perceptions of delirium	Exploring nurses' practices and perceptions of delirium in the intensive care unit using The Nursing Practices and Perceptions Towards Delirium in the Intensive Care Unit questionnaire.	4 month

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Medical University of Gdansk

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 1, 2022
• Primary Completion (Actual): August 30, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): February 28, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 16, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 20, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): May 23, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 14, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 11, 2023
• Last Verified: March 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Critical care; Barriers; Knowledge; Delirium; Practices; ICU nurse
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Nervous System Diseases; Neurologic Manifestations; Confusion; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Neurocognitive Disorders; Delirium
• Other Study ID Numbers: NKBBN/267/2022

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No