title: Delirium in patients with cancer: what nurses need to know to improve care.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Delirium is a serious problem when caring for a patient with cancer in the hospital. Delirium causes major risks and concerns for patients, family members, and healthcare workers, and it often goes unrecognized and has many clinical manifestations.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This article aims to evaluate whether a nursing educational program on the topic of delirium would increase the nursing staff's knowledge and confidence in managing patients with delirium.
  
  
  METHODS
  A repeated-measures research design using general linear modeling was used for this study. An evidence-based delirium protocol and an educational session were developed for the nursing staff on an inpatient medical-surgical oncology unit. The nurses attended a delirium educational session to learn about risk factors, prevention, assessment, and management of delirium, as well as the use of the delirium protocol.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The nursing educational program on the topic of delirium increased the nursing staff's knowledge from 69% to 86%, and overall confidence in managing patients with delirium increased from 47% to 66%. This study confirms the benefits of delirium education in the inpatient medical-surgical oncology setting.
authors.affiliation: Saint Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, MD.
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: LaFever
authors.affiliation: Saint Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, MD.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bory
authors.affiliation: Healthcare Environment in New Brighton, MN.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nelson
mesh_terms: D003693:Delirium / Q000451:nursing / Q000628:therapy*; D004506:Education, Nursing; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000451:nursing; D009726:Nurses
keywords: delirium care and prevention; inpatients with cancer; nursing education