Print

Douglas, Hella

Nursing

2007

MS

Delirium is a neuropsychiatric syndrome characterized by a disturbance of consciousness with a reduced ability to focus, sustain, or shift attention. This change in cognition occurs over a short period of time and tends to fluctuate over the course of the day. Delirium occurs in 14% to 56% of elderly medical inpatients and is a common sign of serious illness, especially in the elderly, and is considered a medical emergency. The consequences of delirium include lengthened hospital stays which can cost institutions an average of $30,000 per patient, longer rehabilitation time, increased need for home care, and an increased risk of mortality. Delirium is under recognized or misidentified by the medical treatment team in more than two thirds of the cases; it is often confused with dementia and depression.
The purpose of this research is to evaluate how accurately 102 registered nurses and senior baccalaureate nursing students from the University of Vermont and Fletcher Allen Health Care correctly identify the symptoms of delirium, dementia, and depression when presented with signs and symptoms on the Triple D Assessment Instrument Questionnaire. The hypothesis for this study is that RNs and senior nursing students cannot differentiate between the primary symptoms of delirium, dementia, and depression. Means and frequencies are reported for the primary variables as well as the demographic characteristics of the participants.
Using analysis of variance and t tests, the differences in the ability to differentiate dementia, depression, and delirium by nurses and senior nursing students was determined. The ultimate goal is to identify knowledge deficits that could be addressed through education and/or nursing interventions which could ultimately improve the nursing care of patients with delirium.