EFFECT OF CONFUSION ASSESSMENT TOOL APPLICATION ON CRITICAL CARE NURSES’ KNOWLEDGE OF DELIRIUM RECOGNITION

In critically ill patients, delirium is a serious and frequent disorder that is associated with a prolonged intensive care and hospital stay and an increased morbidity and mortality. The lack of education, knowledge of delirium and the lack of a delirium screening instrument makes delirium often overlooked by critical care nurses and physicians. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of Confusion Assessment Method-Intensive Care Unit (CAM-ICU) tool implementation on the recognition of delirium by critical care nurses. A Pre-Posttest research design was implemented; 40 critical care nurses at Clemenceau Medical Center at three critical care units participated in the study. The participants were surveyed regarding recognition of delirium before and after the application of CAM-ICU tool and after a CAM-ICU education program was implemented. Highly significant difference in the test scores of the nurses between pre and post intervention were noted. The training concerning delirium and the application of validated assessment tools CAM-ICU increases the knowledge of critical care nurses and effective in recognizing patients with delirium