Intensive care pain, agitation and delirium standardised assessment and monitoring

In progress

Summary

Patients who experience delirium, or acute cognitive impairment/failure, in the intensive care unit can have ongoing problems after their hospital stay. There is currently no standard practice for pain, agitation and delirium prevention, assessment and management across Victorian intensive care units.

This project will:

• measure Victorian ICU clinicians’ existing knowledge, perceptions, attitudes and practice
• measure actual bedside practice
• adapt international evidence-based tools

• support ICUs to implement these tools.

Update

More than 240 Victorian ICU clinicians contributed to the survey to measure existing knowledge and practice.

Fifteen ICUs and critical care units trialled our new guidance from November 2018 to September 2019 to manage delirium and help distressed patients through pain relief.

Targets

• Measurement of current practice of assessment and monitoring of pain, agitation and delirium in Victorian ICUs
• Improved clinical practice in assessment and monitoring of pain, agitation and delirium in Victorian ICUs
• Increased access and use of best practice guidelines for assessment and monitoring of pain, agitation and delirium in Victorian ICUs.

Measures

• Number of Victorian ICUs that  use best practice guidelines for assessment and monitoring of pain, agitation and delirium
• Increase in number of Victorian ICU patients receiving analgesia when they experience pain
• Increase in number of Victorian ICU patients who are calm and not agitated
• Increase in number of Victorian ICU patients not experiencing delirium.