Critical Care Nursing Commons^™

Delirium, Angela Lee

Nursing Student Class Projects (Formerly MSN)

Delirium is a severe neurocognitive syndrome characterized by acute changes in consciousness and cognition (American Psychiatric Association, 2013; Wilson et al., 2020). The syndrome is found to be prevalent within the adult intensive care population resulting from various triggers and stressors in the critical care setting (Wilson et al., 2020). On average, the prevalence of delirium is 23%, but the incidence significantly increases to 50-70% in mechanically ventilated patients (Wilson et al., 2020). As a result of the extension of cognitive deficits, if left untreated, delirium may lead to long-term impairments in cognitive disfunction (Wilson et al., 2020). Current studies …