Non-Pharmacological Management of Delirium From The Perspective of Nurses in an Adult Intensive Care Unit

Objective: The study's main purpose has been to identify non-pharmacological measures in the management of delirium described by nurses of an adult Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Methods: It is a descriptive exploratory study with a qualitative approach that was performed with nurses working at an ICU from a public hospital in Brazil. Data were collected through a semi-structured interview and analyzed by the Thematic Content Analysis. Results: Nurses have knowledge about delirium and bring several non-pharmacological measures used in prevention and management. They underline the importance of knowledge about the subject, to identify and prevent symptoms, and also the presence of their relatives. The difficulties cited to implement these measures are barriers of physical structure, material resources and lack of information on this topic. Conclusion: It is essential to carry out permanent education activities regarding the addressed matter, furthermore, it is recommended to adopt daily scales aiming to monitor delirium.