Delirium in a residential care facility: An exploratory study of staff knowledge

A delirium prevalence audit and a pre and post evaluation of an interprofessional education intervention to increase staff knowledge about delirium in older adults

Background

Delirium is more prevalent in older people and estimated to occur in up to 50% of the hospital population. Delirium comprises a spectrum of behaviours, including cognitive and attention deficits, and fluctuating levels of consciousness, often associated with an underlying physiological disturbance. Delirium has been increasingly associated with adverse outcomes. Although often preventable or can at least be mitigated, delirium may not be a standard part of assessment and thus may not be recognized in the early stages when it is most likely to be treated successfully. The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of knowledge of delirium amongst clinicians caring for patients at high risk of developing delirium and to determine whether education can improve clinical assessment of delirium.

Methods

Two hundred and forty-six case notes were audited before and 149 were reviewed after the education intervention and implementation of a delirium screening tool. Clinicians at the hospital were invited to complete a questionnaire on knowledge of delirium. The questionnaire was based on a validated tool which contained 39 questions about delirium. The questionnaire also contained 28 questions on delirium knowledge. Additional questions were included to gather demographic information specific to the hospital. Descriptive statistics, chi square and independent t-tests were conducted to test for differences in knowledge between the pre and post periods. The Squire Checklist Reporting Guidelines for Quality Improvement Studies informed the preparation of the manuscript.

Results

The audit demonstrated that the use of a cognitive assessment tool overall increased from 8.5% in pre education to 43% in the post education period. One hundred and fifty-nine staff completed the questionnaire in total, 118 the pre and 41 post. The knowledge subscale score was high pre and post education and no statistically significant difference was observed. The greatest increase in knowledge was related to knowledge of the risk factors subscale. The increase in knowledge (6.8%) was statistically significant.

Conclusion

An interprofessional approach to delirium education was effective in not only increasing awareness of the factors associated with this syndrome but also increased the use of a delirium assessment tool.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12912-021-00692-2.

Quality and Safety in Aged Care Virtual Issue: What Australian research published in the Australasian Journal on Ageing tells us

OBJECTIVE

To review studies published in the Australasian Journal on Ageing (AJA) about the aged care workforce, and to identify influences on quality of care and potential policy directions.

METHODS

Articles in the AJA on the aged care workforce published from 2009 to 2018 were identified, grouped into themes and rated for quality.

RESULTS

Twenty-eight articles were identified. Articles fell into four themes: (i) staff knowledge, skills and attitudes; (ii) staff well-being and workforce stability; (iii) environmental factors that influence staff capacity; and (iv) interventions to improve staff capacity. Studies reinforced the importance of staff-consumer, staff-relatives and staff-staff relationships and a supportive workplace culture for staff work ability and capacity to provide high quality care.

CONCLUSIONS

It is possible to improve practice in community and residential aged care, given: (i) enough staff; (ii) better training in person-centred practice; and (iii) a supportive staff culture that encourages staff to put their training into practice.