Date of Award
4-2019
Degree Name
Nursing (D.N.P.)
Department
College of Nursing
First Advisor
Marie VanderKooi, DNP, MSN, RN-BC
Second Advisor
Sandra Spoelstra, PhD, RN, FGSA, FAAN
Third Advisor
Nicole Wills, MSN, RN
Fourth Advisor
Nancy Bekken, RN, MS, CCRN
Abstract
Delirium is associated with increased mortality, nosocomial complications, increased length of hospital stay, and greater chance of readmission, increased hospital costs, and a need for skilled nursing aid after discharge from the hospital. In a hospital, delirium can affect up to 50 percent of older patient 65. The solution is to prevent delirium from occurring and to regularly screen for its presence. The purpose of this paper is to explore the best prevention strategies and screening tool for delirium and to successfully implement a delirium bundle on a medical surgical unit. The question this paper attempts to answer is if implementation of a delirium bundle will decrease adverse patient events such as falls, restraints, and safety attendant use. The goal of this quality improvement project is to increase use of delirium prevention techniques, increase use of a screening tool, and to decrease adverse patient events. The quality improvement project will take place on a neuroscience medical surgical unit which does not have a delirium policy or procedure in place. Nursing staff will be educated on delirium, its prevention, and the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) for Intensive Care Units (ICU). After education, nursing staff will be expected to implement learned techniques. Pre-data will be collected to compare to post data regarding prevention techniques, use of the CAM-ICU, and overall rates of falls, safety attendants, and restraint use. It is expected that falls, restraints, and safety attendant use will decrease, and delirium prevention techniques will increase. Current nursing practice will change by implementing the CAM-ICU, which can lead to earlier detection of delirium.
ScholarWorks Citation
Gembrowski, Anne, "Increasing Prevention and Recognition of Delirium in a Non-ICU Acute Care Population" (2019). Doctoral Projects. 79.
https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/kcon_doctoralprojects/79
