Effects of Anxiety Focused Nursing Interventions on Anxiety, Cognitive Function and Delirium in Neurocritical Patients: A Non-Randomized Controlled Design.
Seo-Young Jang, Myung Kyung Lee
PMID 40396467WHAT IT FOUND
Patients in a neurological ICU who received a structured anxiety-focused nursing bundle had lower anxiety, better cognitive scores and less delirium than patients receiving routine care.
The bundle included many nursing actions, so no single part can be credited.
Key findings
01The anxiety-focused nursing bundle group had lower post-intervention anxiety than routine care, with a score change of -8.97 versus 3.03.
02Cognitive scores were higher after intervention in the bundle group, with changes of 1.33 versus -1.53 on a 0 to 30 scale.
03Delirium was present in 26.7% of bundle patients and 70.0% of control patients after intervention, but the bundle group's own change was not significant.
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How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was done in a single neurological ICU, so results may not apply to other ICUs or patient groups. It evaluated only short-term outcomes. The design was non-randomized, assignment was described by admission period, and the paper also mentions random assignment, so the allocation method is unclear. The intervention was a multicomponent nursing bundle, so the contribution of any single action cannot be separated. Patients receiving sedatives and patients with a psychiatric diagnosis or dementia were excluded, so findings do not apply to many ICU patients. The sample was small, with 30 patients analysed in each group.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that any single nursing action caused the improvements. The intervention was a bundle of many nursing actions, the allocation method is unclear, and the study was short-term and from one ICU.