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. 2021 Jan;31(1):137-147.
doi: 10.1177/1049732320959295. Epub 2020 Sep 24.

Identifying and Responding to Delirium in Acute Stroke: Clinical Team Members' Understandings

Gail Carin-Levy  1 , Kath Nicol  1 , Frederike van Wijck  2 , Gillian Mead  3 , Chris McVittie  1
Affiliations

Identifying and Responding to Delirium in Acute Stroke: Clinical Team Members' Understandings

Gail Carin-Levy et al. Qual Health Res. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

Delirium is associated with increased mortality, morbidity, and length of hospital stay. In the acute stroke setting, delirium identification is challenging due to the complexity of cognitive screening in this patient group. The aim of this study was to explore how members of interprofessional stroke-unit teams identified and responded to a potential delirium in a patient. Online focus groups and interviews utilizing case vignettes were conducted with 15 participants: nurses, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, and physiotherapists working in acute stroke services. Participants' understandings of delirium varied, most participants did not identify the symptoms of a possible hypoactive delirium, and nearly all participants discussed delirium symptoms in tentative terms. Aspects of interprofessional working were discussed through the expression of distinct roles around delirium identification. Although participants demonstrated an ethos of person-focused care, there are ongoing challenges involved in early identification and management of delirium in stroke survivors.

Keywords: Scotland; acute stroke; constructivist grounded theory; delirium; focus groups; interprofessional care; qualitative.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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