Patients' and family members' dyadic experience of post-operative delirium in the intensive care unit: A qualitative study.
Jing Dong, Weijing Sui, Yiyu Zhuang
PMID 39957424WHAT IT FOUND
Patients and families described ICU post-operative delirium as a shared distress.
They valued family presence, timely honest nurse communication, and early support for new caregiving roles.
Key findings
01Patients and family members described post-operative delirium as an emotionally intertwined experience, and they said family presence could reduce distress and improve cooperation.
02Family members described noticing subtle changes in consciousness and offering practical coping ideas without being asked to engage in delirium care.
03Patients and families described inadequate communication about delirium as causing anxiety and sometimes conflict with nurses.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Single-centre study in a tertiary hospital, so experiences may not apply to all ICUs or cultures. Qualitative interviews cannot show whether family presence, communication, or nurse strategies prevent or treat delirium. Patients were interviewed after delirium had resolved, so memory of the ICU period may be incomplete or biased. Some patients spoke dialects and needed family members to translate, which may have shaped what was said. Participants excluded people with severe cognitive impairment, dementia, alcohol withdrawal, psychotropic drug use, or neurological disease, so it may not reflect all ICU delirium patients.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the Science and Technology Department of Zhejiang Province. The supplied text does not state author conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that family presence or nurse communication prevents or treats post-operative delirium. This study described patients' and families' experiences and suggestions; it did not test whether these actions changed delirium outcomes.