• Karen Whitehorne, Alice Gaudine, Robert Meadus, and Shirley Solberg.
• Karen Whitehorne is a nurse therapist at Eastern Health, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. Alice Gaudine and Shirley Solberg are professors, and Robert Meadus is an associate professor, School of Nursing, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. Karen.whitehorne@easternhealth.ca.
• Am. J. Crit. Care. 2015 Nov 1; 24 (6): 474-9.

BackgroundDelirium is a common occurrence for patients in the intensive care unit and can have a profound and lasting impact on them. Few studies describe the experience of intensive care patients who have had delirium.ObjectiveTo understand the lived experience of intensive care for critically ill patients who experienced delirium.MethodsThe study participants consisted of 7 men and 3 women, 46 to 70 years old, who had delirium according to the Confusion Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit. The van Manen method of hermeneutic phenomenology was used, and data collection entailed audio recorded semistructured interviews.ResultsFour themes were detected: "I can't remember," "Wanting to make a connection," "Trying to get it straight," and "Fear and safety concerns."ConclusionNurses working in intensive care units need to assess patients for delirium, assess the mental status of patients who have delirium, and help patients and patients' families learn about and deal with the psychological effects of the intensive care unit experience.©2015 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

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