The Experience of Intensive Care Nurses Caring for Patients with Delirium

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to seek a deep understanding of the lived experience of intensive care nurses caring for patients with delirium. Delirium affects a large proportion of adult patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). Delirium has been linked to increased morbidity and mortality, longer intensive care and hospital length of stay, long-term cognitive impairments, short-term and long-term psychological distress, and increased hospital and health system costs. Critical care nurses play central roles in preventing, identifying, and treating ICU patients with delirium. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight intensive care nurses working in an ICU in a tertiary level, university-affiliated hospital in Ontario, Canada. The researcher analyzed the interviews using an interpretive phenomenological approach as described by van Manen (1990). The essence of the experience of critical care nurses caring for ICU patients with delirium was revealed to be finding a way to help them come through it. Six main themes emerged: It's Exhausting; Making a Picture of the Patient's Mental Status; Keeping Patients Safe: It's a Really Big Job; Everyone Is Unique; Riding It Out With Families; and Taking Every Experience With You. The findings describe how intensive care nurses find a way to help patients and their families through this complex and often distressing experience. This study has contributed to the understanding of the lived experience of ICU nurses caring for patients with delirium.