Occupational Therapy Commons^™

Reducing Delirium In Patients With Covid-19, Allison E. Brewer Mot/S, Amy Carver Mot/S, Allison Nance Mph, Mot/S, Mallori Rodrigue Mot/S, Olivia Smith Mot/S

Master of Occupational Therapy Student Critically Appraised Topics

The purpose of our critically appraised topic is to synthesize the best current evidence regarding interventions that would be effective in reducing delirium in patients with COVID-19 in the acute care setting. The final portfolio contains a total of five research articles. Study designs include three randomized controlled trials, one non randomized controlled trial, and one quasi-experimental quantitative design. All studies relate directly to interventions within the OT scope of practice and were implemented in the acute care setting. Due to limited research on the novel coronavirus, these findings apply to critically ill patients but are not specific to patients …

Delirium Reduction Strategies For The Critically Ill, June Chaves, Sam Canonico, Will Cheney, Tammy Corey, Gil Fraser, Alex Kowalewski, Jen Low, Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, Haley Pelletier, Cathy Palleschi, Stephen Tyzik, Suneela Nayak, Ruth Hanselman

Maine Medical Center

Delirium, an acute and fluctuating disturbance of consciousness and cognition, is a common manifestation of acute brain dysfunction in critically ill patients. Patients with delirium have longer hospital stays and a lower 6-month survival rate than do patients without delirium. Preliminary research suggests that delirium may be associated with cognitive impairment that persists months to years after discharge.

In a large acute care hospital, the cardiac intensive care staff became interested in mitigating their unit’s high delirium rate of ventilated patients. At baseline, many members of the healthcare team did not believe that delirium could be prevented and the predominant …