The Effects of Delirium Care Training Program for Nurses in Hospital Nursing Units

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of delirium care training program on the nurses’ knowledge of delirium, self-confidence and performance levels in caring patients with delirium. Methods: The study was used a quasi-experimental design. The participants were 131 nurses in general nursing units in B and J hospitals. Sixty four nurses in B hospital were allocated into the experimental group and 67 nurses from J hospital into the control group. The delirium care training program was composed of lecture and clinical practice. Clinical practice of delirium care was applied everyday for 4 consecutive weeks starting from the admission day of the older adults(≥70 years old), using ‘short CAM' and ‘nursing checklist for delirium prevention’. Results: The knowledge of delirium, self-confidence in caring patients, and performance levels of nursing care were significantly increased in the experimental group compared to the control group. Conclusion: The findings of this study provided the evidence for the potential utility of the delirium care training program and underscored the needs of broader application of the training program of delirium care for nurses in general nursing units.