World delirium awareness and quality survey in 2023-a worldwide point prevalence study.

Background: Delirium, an acute brain dysfunction, is proposed to be highly prevalent in clinical care and shown to significantly increase the risk of mortality and dementia.

Objectives: To report on the global prevalence of clinically documented delirium and delirium-related clinical practices in wards caring for paediatric and adult patients in healthcare facilities.

Design: A prospective, cross-sectional, 39-question survey completed on World Delirium Awareness Day, 15 March 2023.

Intensive care unit diaries-harmful or harmless: A systematic literature review and qualitative data synthesis.

Objective: The objective of this research was to evaluate the extent of harm for critically ill patients, family members, and healthcare professionals associated with writing and reading intensive care unit (ICU) diaries.

Review Method Used: A systematic literature review and a synthesis of qualitative data were performed. The protocol of this study has been registered in the International prospective register of systematic reviews (CRD42022376393).

A prospective longitudinal cohort study of the association between nurses' subjective and objective workload.

Critical care nurses have high workloads due to the severity of the disease and the complexity of the treatment and care. Understanding the factors that influence subjective workload as well as the association between subjective and objective workload could lead to new insights to reduce critical care nurses' workload. (1) To describe critical care nurses' subjective and objective workload per shift in a university-affiliated interdisciplinary adult intensive care unit in Switzerland and (2) to explore the association between objective and subjective workload.

Strategies for Coping With Complicated Grief in Relatives of Patients Who Are Critically Ill: An Observational Single-Center Cohort Study.

Background: Relatives of patients who are critically ill who die are at high risk for symptoms of complicated grief (CG) with potential individual and social burdens. The prevalence and predictors of CG, and in particular the involvement of individual facets of relatives' coping strategies, are not well understood.

Research Question: How high is the prevalence and what are the predictors of CG, and how are coping strategies associated with CG symptoms?

Study Design And Methods: In this observational single-center cohort study, relatives of patients who are critically ill who died while in the ICU were surveyed 6 months later, using the Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG) and the Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced questionnaire, to assess CG symptoms and coping strategies, respectively.

Multicomponent family support intervention in intensive care units: statistical analysis plan for the cluster-randomized controlled FICUS trial.

The FICUS trial is a cluster-randomized superiority trial to determine the effectiveness of a nurse-led, interprofessional family support intervention (FSI) on the quality of care, family management and individual mental health of family members of critically ill patients, compared to usual care. This paper describes the statistical analysis plan of the FICUS trial. The primary outcome is quality of family care, assessed by the Family Satisfaction in ICU Questionnaire (FS-ICU-24R) at patient discharge from the ICU.

Consequences of a stay in the intensive care unit and outpatient follow-up care for chronic critically ill patients: A retrospective data analysis.

Background: Patients with chronic critical illness (CCI) represent a particularly vulnerable patient population with significant quality-of-life consequences and a need for follow-up care. Existing research on their quality-of-life trajectory and outpatient follow-up care is limited.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to (i) describe a quality improvement project focussing on patients with CCI in the Swiss setting; (ii) explain the consequences of an intensive care unit (ICU) stay for patients with CCI; and (iii) evaluate outpatient follow-up care for patients with CCI.

A world-wide study on delirium assessments and presence of protocols.

Background: Delirium is a common complication of older people in hospitals, rehabilitation and long-term facilities.

Objective: To assess the worldwide use of validated delirium assessment tools and the presence of delirium management protocols.

Design: Secondary analysis of a worldwide one-day point prevalence study on World Delirium Awareness Day, 15 March 2023.

Experiences of parents visiting an adult family member in the intensive care unit accompanied by their underaged children: A qualitative study.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to explore experiences and needs of parents visiting critically ill family members in intensive care units (ICUs) accompanied by their underaged children (<18 years).

Methods: Six semistructured interviews with parents were conducted in a qualitative design. Data analysis and synthesis were performed using Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis.

[Lessons from the COVID-19-Pandemic : Experiences of critical care nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative explorative study].

Background: When the workload for critical care nurses becomes too high, this can have consequences for both personal health as well as patient care. During the COVID-19 pandemic, critical care nurses were confronted with new and dynamic changes.

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the experiences of critical care nurses regarding the ad hoc measures taken and the perceived physical and psychological burden experienced during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Effects of immersive virtual reality on sensory overload in a random sample of critically ill patients.

Background: Sensory overload and sensory deprivation have both been associated with negative health outcomes in critically ill patients. While there is a lack of any clear treatment or prevention strategies, immersive virtual reality is a promising tool for addressing such problems, but which has not been repetitively tested in random samples. Therefore, this study aimed to determine how critically ill patients react to repeated sessions of immersive virtual reality.

Guideline on multimodal rehabilitation for patients with post-intensive care syndrome.

Background: Intensive Care Unit (ICU) survivors often experience several impairments in their physical, cognitive, and psychological health status, which are labeled as post-intensive care syndrome (PICS). The aim of this work is to develop a multidisciplinary and -professional guideline for the rehabilitative therapy of PICS.

Methods: A multidisciplinary/-professional task force of 15 healthcare professionals applied a structured, evidence-based approach to address 10 scientific questions.

Early mobilisation for prevention and treatment of delirium in critically ill patients: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: Does early mobilisation as standalone or part of a bundle intervention, compared to usual care, prevent and/or shorten delirium in adult patients in Intensive Care Units?

Background: Early mobilisation is recommended for the prevention and treatment of delirium in critically ill patients, but the evidence remains inconclusive.

Method: Systematic literature search in Pubmed, CINAHL, PEDRo, Cochrane from inception to March 2022, and hand search in previous meta-analysis. Included were randomized trials or quality-improvement projects.

Early Rehabilitation Interventions and Physical Therapy in Adults Who Were Critically Ill With COVID-19 Pneumonia: A Retrospective Observational Study.

Objective: The primary objective of this observational study was to analyze the time to the first edge-of-bed (EOB) mobilization in adults who were critically ill with severe versus non-severe COVID-19 pneumonia. Secondary objectives included the description of early rehabilitation interventions and physical therapy delivery.

Methods: All adults with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 requiring intensive care unit admission for ≥72 hours were included and divided according to their lowest PaO2/FiO2 ratio into severe (≤100 mmHg) or non-severe (>100 mmHg) COVID-19 pneumonia.

[Children visiting intensive care units and emergency departments : Kids are welcome!].

In this white paper, key recommendations for visitation by children in intensive care units (ICU; both pediatric and adult), intermediate care units and emergency departments (ED) are presented. In ICUs and EDs in German-speaking countries, the visiting policies for children and adolescents are regulated very heterogeneously: sometimes they are allowed to visit patients without restrictions in age and time duration, sometimes this is only possible from the age of teenager on, and only for a short duration. A request from children to visit often triggers different, sometimes restrictive reactions among the staff.

Perceived sounds and their reported level of disturbance in intensive care units: A multinational survey among healthcare professionals.

Purpose: The noise levels in intensive care units have been repeatedly reported to exceed the recommended guidelines and yield negative health outcomes among healthcare professionals. However, it is unclear which sound sources within this environment are perceived as disturbing. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate how healthcare professionals in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria perceive the sound levels and the associated sound sources within their work environment and explore sound reduction strategies.

Investigating the role of auditory and visual sensory inputs for inducing relaxation during virtual reality stimulation.

Stress is a part of everyday life which can be counteracted by evoking the relaxation response via nature scenes presented using immersive virtual reality (VR). The aim of this study was to determine which sensory aspect of immersive VR intervention is responsible for the greatest relaxation response. We compared four conditions: auditory and visual combined (audiovisual), auditory only, visual only, and no artificial sensory input.

Video calls did not reduce PTSD symptoms in relatives during restricted ICU visits in the COVID-19 pandemic.

To help reduce the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus during the COVID-19 pandemic, ICU visits were banned or restricted. Therefore, family-centered care as usually practiced was not feasible Video calls were recommended to meet relatives' needs. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of video calls on symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in relatives of ICU patients.

Family support in intensive care units during COVID-19 visit ban: A multinational Delphi Study during first COVID-19 wave.

Objectives: This study assessed opinions and experiences of healthcare professionals, former patients and family members during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and focuses on challenges in family-centred care for intensive care unit patients and affected families.

Research Methodology/design: A two-round modified Delphi process assessed the opinions and experiences of experts such as healthcare professionals, former patients and their families (n = 151).

Setting: This study was conducted across four countries in Europe.

Visual and auditory stimulation for patients in the intensive care unit: A mixed-method study.

Objectives: To determine what type (e.g., television, photographs, music, etc), content (e.

Dynamics of disease characteristics and clinical management of critically ill COVID-19 patients over the time course of the pandemic: an analysis of the prospective, international, multicentre RISC-19-ICU registry.

Background: It remains elusive how the characteristics, the course of disease, the clinical management and the outcomes of critically ill COVID-19 patients admitted to intensive care units (ICU) worldwide have changed over the course of the pandemic.

Methods: Prospective, observational registry constituted by 90 ICUs across 22 countries worldwide including patients with a laboratory-confirmed, critical presentation of COVID-19 requiring advanced organ support. Hierarchical, generalized linear mixed-effect models accounting for hospital and country variability were employed to analyse the continuous evolution of the studied variables over the pandemic.

A multicomponent family support intervention in intensive care units: study protocol for a multicenter cluster-randomized trial (FICUS Trial).

Background: Family members of critically ill patients face considerable uncertainty and distress during their close others' intensive care unit (ICU) stay. About 20-60% of family members experience adverse mental health outcomes post-ICU, such as symptoms of anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress. Guidelines recommend structured family inclusion, communication, and support, but the existing evidence base around protocolized family support interventions is modest and requires substantiation.