Evidence-based Practices for Managing Emergence Delirium in Patients Diagnosed With PTSD: Pilot Evaluation of a Nursing Education & Simulation Program

PURPOSE: To educate perioperative nurses on the expedient identification of emergence delirium (EmD) and to recognize patients diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as an at-risk population for the development of EmD. DESIGN: Quality Improvement project with single-group pre-post test. METHODS: Perioperative nurses participated in a 60-minute education and simulation intervention to introduce evidence-based practices when caring for patients diagnosed with PTSD with EmD. Participants completed a knowledge assessment and a self-reported confidence measure before and after the educational intervention. FINDINGS: Perioperative nurse participants (N = 36) had an increase in knowledge levels from 64% to 89.3% (P < .001) and confidence levels from 6.07 to 7.97 on a 10-point scale (P < .001) when caring for patients with PTSD with EmD. CONCLUSIONS: This project found that educating nurses on EmD can increase their knowledge and confidence when caring for this patient population. The educational intervention has potential to improve patient safety and experiences of perianesthesia nursing care.