Nursing inquiry
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Delirium is a common presentation of deteriorating health in older people. It is potentially deleterious in terms of patient experience and clinical outcomes. Much of what is known about delirium is through positivist research, which forms the evidence base for disease-based classification systems and clinical guidelines. ⋯ Nurses influenced by major discourses of risk reduction and safety, constructed patients with delirium as risk objects. The philosophy of person-centred and dignified care advocated in nursing literature and government policy is an emerging discourse, though little evident in the data. The current dominant discourses on safety must give space to discourses of dignity and compassion.