The effectiveness of preventive nursing measures on the incidence of delirium in patients undergoing open heart surgery

Introduction: Delirium is one of the most common medical disorders in the patients of ICU, leading to an increase in the mortality and morbidity rate. Materials and methods: Two groups, including 36 cases of cardiac surgery in each, were recruited Interventions included the implementation of nursing preventive measures by a researcher and a trained companion in the ward. Patients’ information was completed the day before surgery. Delirium incidence investigated with NeeCham questionnaire on a daily basis from the first day of the heart surgery till the fifth day and checklists of variables associated with delirium incidence were completed. For data analysis, descriptive statistics were employed using SPSS software, version 21. Results: Delirium incidence in the control group on the second, third, fourth, and the fifth day after heart surgery was 44.4%, 38.9%, 19.4% and 8.3%, respectively. This rate in intervention group was 25%, 19.4%, 8.3% and 0%, respectively, showing no significant difference. However, the risk of delirium incidence in the control group was 5.3 times more than intervention group (p=0.009). Conclusion: Nursing preventive interventions were not effective in reducing the delirium incidence among the patients participating in this research. However, due to considerable reduction of the risk of delirium incidence in the intervention group compared to the control group, these interventions can be used as an influential strategic training of nurses without any additional cost in the ICU.

کلیدواژه ها:

Delirium ، Prevention ، Heart surgery ، Nursing care