Credentials of Corresponding Author
MA, MSN, APRN-BC
Name of Faculty Advisor
Dr. Kimberly Oosterhouse
Nature and scope of the project
Delirium is a common yet significant acute brain disorder in critically ill patients. In our surgical/trauma ICU there are opportunities for improved recognition and management of patients with delirium. This quality improvement project will emphasize the importance of nursing’s contributions to delirium assessment and management in preventing complications that impact patient safety and quality of care. This project will improve current nursing practice by transforming nurses’ knowledge of delirium and through the use of an effective delirium protocol.
Synthesis and analysis of supporting literature
Several evidence-based studies demonstrated significant nurse enhancement of delirium knowledge, assessment, intervention, and prevention strategies through nursing education. Structured educational nursing interventions and patient care protocols must be developed to improve delirium nursing practice. The Knowledge to Action model is the conceptual framework guiding this project in promoting the process of knowledge translation to deliver evidence-based interventions within clinical practice.
Project implementation
This evidence-based quality improvement project will be implemented within the surgical/trauma ICU of a tertiary hospital with a single group pre- and post-test design. Data will be collected through self-administered questionnaires distributed to surgical/trauma ICU nurses pre-and post-intervention. Demographic data, nursing knowledge, perception on usefulness of the CAM-ICU and ABCDEF bundles will be measured in addition to compliance with screening instruments and care bundles. The intervention will consist of formal didactic delirium education including the use of the CAM-ICU and ABCDEF patient care protocol bundle and bedside use of the delirium protocol.
Evaluation criteria
Descriptive statistics will be used to analyze the distribution of demographic variables, and a paired-t-test will evaluate pre-and post-intervention delirium knowledge and improvement of the nurse’s perception on use of delirium assessment tools and patient care bundles. The frequency of the intervention checklists will evaluate the proper usage of CAM-ICU and ABCDEF patient care bundles.
Outcomes
We hope to demonstrate that through delirium education and use of the delirium protocol, ICU nurses will recognize how their assessments and early interventions can provide effective management and prevent further deterioration of their patients.
Recommendations
This project is currently in progress; therefore, no recommendations are available at this time.
Using the Evidence: Developing an ICU Delirium Protocol