The parent perspective on paediatric delirium and an associated care bundle:A qualitative study

Aims: To explore how parents experienced their child with delirium and how parents viewed our delirium management bundle. Design: We conducted a qualitative exploratory descriptive study using semi-structured individual or dyad interviews. Methods: Twelve semi-structured interviews with 16 parents of 12 critically ill children diagnosed with delirium in a paediatric intensive care unit were conducted from October 2022 to January 2023 and analysed through a reflexive thematic analysis. Findings: We generated five themes: (1) knowing that something is very wrong, (2) observing manifest changes in the child, (3) experiencing fear of long-term consequences, (4) adding insight to the bundle, and (5) family engagement. Conclusion: The parents in our study were able to observe subtle and manifest changes in their child with delirium. This caused fear of lasting impact. The parents regarded most of the interventions in the delirium management bundle as relevant but needed individualization in the application. The parents requested more information regarding delirium and a higher level of parent engagement in the care of their child during delirium. Impact: This paper contributes to understanding how parents might experience delirium in their critically ill child, how our delirium management bundle was received by the parents, and their suggestions for improvement. Our study deals with critically ill children with delirium, their parents, and staff working to prevent and manage paediatric delirium (PD) in the paediatric intensive care unit. Reporting Method: The consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research guidelines were used to ensure the transparency of our reporting. Patient or Public Contribution: No patient or public contribution to the research design. What does this Paper Contribute to the Wider Global Community?: - It increases awareness of the parent's perspective on PD in critically ill children. - It shows how PD might affect parents, causing negative emotions such as distress, frustration, and fear of permanent damage. - It shows that the parents in our study, in addition to the care bundle, requested more information on delirium and more involvement in the care of their delirious child.</p

Simplified Mortality Score for the Intensive Care Unit (SMS-ICU):protocol for the development and validation of a bedside clinical prediction rule

INTRODUCTION: Mortality prediction scores are widely used in intensive care units (ICUs) and in research, but their predictive value deteriorates as scores age. Existing mortality prediction scores are imprecise and complex, which increases the risk of missing data and decreases the applicability bedside in daily clinical practice. We propose the development and validation of a new, simple and updated clinical prediction rule: the Simplified Mortality Score for use in the Intensive Care Unit (SMS-ICU). METHODS AND ANALYSIS: During the first phase of the study, we will develop and internally validate a clinical prediction rule that predicts 90-day mortality on ICU admission. The development sample will comprise 4247 adult critically ill patients acutely admitted to the ICU, enrolled in 5 contemporary high-quality ICU studies/trials. The score will be developed using binary logistic regression analysis with backward stepwise elimination of candidate variables, and subsequently be converted into a point-based clinical prediction rule. The general performance, discrimination and calibration of the score will be evaluated, and the score will be internally validated using bootstrapping. During the second phase of the study, the score will be externally validated in a fully independent sample consisting of 3350 patients included in the ongoing Stress Ulcer Prophylaxis in the Intensive Care Unit trial. We will compare the performance of the SMS-ICU to that of existing scores. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: We will use data from patients enrolled in studies/trials already approved by the relevant ethical committees and this study requires no further permissions. The results will be reported in accordance with the Transparent Reporting of multivariate prediction models for Individual Prognosis Or Diagnosis (TRIPOD) statement, and submitted to a peer-reviewed journal

Agents intervening against delirium in the intensive care unit (AID-ICU) - Protocol for a randomised placebo-controlled trial of haloperidol in patients with delirium in the ICU

Background Delirium among patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) is a common condition associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Haloperidol is the most frequently used pharmacologic intervention, but its use is not supported by firm evidence. Therefore, we are conducting Agents Intervening against Delirium in the Intensive Care Unit (AID‐ICU) trial to assess the benefits and harms of haloperidol for the treatment of ICU‐acquired delirium. Methods AID‐ICU is an investigator‐initiated, pragmatic, international, randomised, blinded, parallel‐group, trial allocating adult ICU patients with manifest delirium 1:1 to haloperidol or placebo. Trial participants will receive intravenous 2.5 mg haloperidol three times daily or matching placebo (isotonic saline 0.9%) if they are delirious. If needed, a maximum of 20 mg/daily haloperidol/placebo is given. An escape protocol, not including haloperidol, is part of the trial protocol. The primary outcome is days alive out of the hospital within 90 days post‐randomisation. Secondary outcomes are number of days without delirium or coma, serious adverse reactions to haloperidol, usage of escape medication, number of days alive without mechanical ventilation; mortality, health‐related quality‐of‐life and cognitive function at 1‐year follow‐up. A sample size of 1000 patients is required to detect a 7‐day improvement or worsening of the mean days alive out of the hospital, type 1 error risk of 5% and power 90%. Perspective The AID‐ICU trial is based on gold standard methodology applied to a large sample of clinically representative patients and will provide pivotal high‐quality data on the benefits and harms of haloperidol for the treatment ICU‐acquired delirium

Pharmacological interventions for delirium in intensive care patients: a protocol for an overview of reviews

Search strategies for Cochrane Library, MEDLINE (OvidSP), EMBASE (OvidSP), Science Citation Index (web of science), BIOSIS Citation Index (web of science), Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Latin American Caribbean Health Sciences Literature (LILACS) and Allied and Complementary Medicine Database (AMED). (DOCX 30 kb

Patients experiences of well-being when being cared for in the intensive care unit – an integrative review

Objective: The aim of this integrative review was to identify facilitators and barriers to patients’ well-being when being cared for in an ICU setting, from the perspective of the patients. Background: To become critically ill and hospitalised in an ICU is a stressful, chaotic event due to the life-threatening condition itself, as well as therapeutic treatments and the environment. A growing body of evidence has revealed that patients often suffer from physical, psychological and cognitive problems after an ICU stay. Several strategies, such as sedation and pain management, are used to reduce stress and increase well-being during ICU hospitalisation, but the ICU experience nevertheless affects the body and mind. Design; Methods: Since research exploring patients’ sense of well-being in an ICU setting is limited, an integrative review approach was selected. Searches were performed in CINAHL, Medline, Psych Info, Eric and EMBASE. After reviewing 66 studies, 12 studies were included in the integrative review. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the studies. The PRISMA checklist for systematic reviews was used. Results: The results are presented under one main theme, ‘Well-being as a multidimensional experience—interwoven in barriers and facilitators’ and six sub-themes representing barriers to and facilitators of well-being in an ICU. Barriers identified were physical stressors, emotional stressors, environmental disturbances and insecurity relating to time and space. Facilitators were meeting physical needs and activities that included dimensions of a caring and relational environment. Conclusion: Our main findings were that experiences of well-being were multidimensional and included physical, emotional, relational and environmental aspects, and they were more often described through barriers than facilitators of well-being. Relevance for clinical practice: This integrative review has shown that it is necessary to adopt an individual focus on patient well-being in an ICU setting since physical, emotional, relational and environmental stressors might impact each patient differently

Functional status after delirium acquired in the ICU: A one-year follow-up at selected sites of the AID-ICU trial

The objective of this study is to assess differences in functional status between patients in the two interventions of the AID-ICU trial, i.e. haloperidol and placebo. Furthermore, to investigate the functional status of critically ill patients at one-year follow-up in patients included in the AID-ICU trial at selected sites

Trends and recommendations for critical care nursing research in the Nordic countries: Triangulation of review and survey data

Background: Priorities for critical care nursing research have evolved with societal trends and values. In the 1980s priorities were the nursing workforce, in 1990s technical nursing, in 2000s evidence-based nursing and in 2010s symptom management and family-centred care. Objectives: To identify current trends and future recommendations for critical care nursing research in the Nordic countries. Methods: We triangulated the results of a literature review and a survey. A review of two selected critical care nursing journals (2016–2017) was conducted using content analysis to identify contemporary published research. A self-administered computerised cross-sectional survey of Nordic critical care nursing researchers (2017) reported current and future areas of research. Results: A review of 156 papers identified research related to the patient (13%), family (12%), nurse (31%), and therapies (44%). Current trends in the survey (n = 76, response rate 65%) included patient and family involvement, nurse performance and education, and evidence-based protocols. The datasets showed similar trends, but aftercare was only present in the survey. Future trends included symptom management, transitions, rehabilitation, and new nursing roles. Conclusion: Critical care nursing research is trending toward increased collaboration with patient and family, delineating a shift toward user values. Recommendations include long-term outcomes and impact of nursing

Cognitive training for prevention of cognitive impairment in adult intensive care unit (ICU) patients

This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (intervention). The objectives are as follows: To assess effects of cognitive training interventions initiated during ICU or hospital stay versus no cognitive training on global cognitive function in adult patients after cessation of intensive care therapy