Abstract
Delirium is a common neurobehavioral complication in hospitalized patients that can occur in the acute phase and lead to poor long-term outcomes. The purpose of this study was to identify non-pharmacological nursing interventions for the prevention and treatment of delirium in hospitalized adult patients. We conducted a systematic review to synthesize the findings of published studies. We searched the PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, and Cochrane Library CENTRAL databases for randomized controlled trials in January 2021. We report this systematic review according to the PRISMA 2009 checklist. The study was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42021226538). Nine studies were systematically reviewed for non-pharmacological nursing interventions for the prevention and treatment of delirium. The types of non-pharmacological nursing interventions included multicomponent intervention, multidisciplinary care, multimedia education, music listening, mentoring of family caregivers concerning delirium management, bright light exposure, ear plugs, and interventions for simulated family presence using pre-recorded video messages. These results could help nurses select and utilize non-pharmacological nursing interventions for the prevention and treatment of delirium in clinical nursing practice.
Highlights
A few studies were able to identify which interventions were performed by nurses; previous reviews related to non-pharmacological nursing interventions for the prevention and treatment of delirium in hospitalized adult patients included one integral review [24] and one narrative review [18]
The above studies were conducted to confirm the effects of pharmacological interventions, or studies to confirm the effects of some interventions, such as family interventions and multi-component interventions; there were no studies to confirm the effects of non-pharmacological nursing interventions
Studies on nonpharmacological nursing interventions were included; few studies were randomized controlled trials (RCTs). This present study conducted a systematic review of the interventions, timing, and frequency of application of non-pharmacological nursing interventions for the prevention and treatment of delirium in RCTs
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Delirium is a common neurobehavioral complication in hospitalized patients [1]. Delirium occurs in the acute phase and can lead to poor long-term outcomes [2]. To prevent these results, many studies have attempted to prevent and treat delirium using pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions [3,4,5]
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