Saudi Journal of Nursing and Health Care (SJNHC)
Volume-4 | Issue-02 | 43-44
Original Research Article
Think Delirium! Do we Assess our Critically Ill Patients for Delirium? A Closed Loop Audit
Tharwat Aisa, Ibrahim Ramadan, Adel Hussein
Published : Feb. 28, 2021
Abstract
Delirium is prevalent among critically ill patients and it is an independent risk factor for mortality. The audit aimed to determine the staff awareness of delirium screening and to establish whether we assess and document the cognitive state of our patients regularly in the course of intensive care admission. Furthermore, we aimed to review if the causes of delirium were considered and treated appropriately. A closed loop audit was conducted in the different intensive care units. The initial audit showed that Most of the nurses; 63 (97%) neither assessed the patients for delirium nor were aware of the delirium assessment checklist. There were 12(20%) patients out of 58 who had delirium during the audit with no documentation or treatment. The second audit cycle showed 86 (90.5%) of the staff were fully aware of the checklist and using it. We conclude that re-implementing the routine screening for delirium improved its evaluation and management.