Introduction: Delirium is an acute organic mental disorder that often occurs in critically ill patients in intensive care units, but still frequently goes undetected. Since it can be prevented with appropriate safeguards, it makes sense to firstly direct activities towards prevention. If we fail to prevnet it, we have to identify it, and then provide appropriate treatment, to eliminate the symptoms and causes of delirium as soon as possible. In all these activities, nurses are very important members of the medical team that treats a patient with delirium. We spend the most time with them and therefore we know the patient best and can assess and observe various changes, in both mental and physical aspects. Purpose: The purpose of this diploma work is to define nursing activities for the prevention, identification and treatment of delirium in intensive care units of somatic hospitals. Methods: In this thesis, a descriptive method of work was used, in which we reviewed both foreign and Slovene literature, which we searched for in electronic databases (PubMed, Medline, CINAHL, Wiley Online Library). Access to the mentioned databases was provided via remote access in the digital library of the University of Ljubljana (DiKul). Slovenian literature was searched through the COBISS.SI bibliographic system and the World Wide Web. Finally, 31 units of literature were included. Results: The results show that there are many nursing activities that can both prevent and alleviate the symptoms of already developed delirium. Key activities in both prevention and treatment include educating healthcare professionals, identifying risk factors, managing pain, regulating sedation, early mobilization, proper sleep hygiene and orientation. In all these activities, nurses must be able to take their role and, through their expertise and implementation of various interventions, prevent risk factors, detect unidentified delirious patients and appropriately participate in the treatment. Discussion and conclusion: The results show that delirium is common in the critically ill patient population. Though often being overlooked, much can be done to prevent, identify and treat it with the right approach, guidelines and protocols. We also found that delirium is one of those barriers, where the great role of nursing in treating the patient can once again prove, and show how very important it is, that health professions are constantly connecting and helping each other for the patient's benefit.
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