Background: Intensive Care Unit (ICU) delirium is a nonspecific, potentially preventable, and often reversible disorder of impaired cognition, which results from various causes in ICU patients. For appropriate management of delirium, early identification and risk factor assessment are key factors. Multidisciplinary collaboration and standardized care can enhance the recognition of delirium.
Design: In this study, authors used the exploratory and descriptive study method.
Method: The study was conducted in a group of 45 nurses of the cardiac intensive care unit. The department has 16 intensive care stations and is intended for patients after cardiac surgery who require intensive care in the postoperative period.
Results: During the analysis the interviews, five Collective Subject Discourses were distinguished: signs and symptoms, physical restraint, use of sedatives, environment, and lack of education.
Conclusion: Nurses have no knowledge of the factors contributing to the development of delirium, are unable to communicate with such patients and, most of all, do not know the consequences of the actions taken.
Keywords: collective subject discourse; critical care; delirium.