Changing clinical practice through research: the case of delirium

Promoting application of study findings to the clinical setting is a constant challenge for nurse researchers. This project used change theory to include staff RNs in a research study on delirium and to use relevant findings. The research hypothesis was: Staff nurses who use a standardized protocol will have improved ability to identify delirium in elderly hospital patients. Staff nurses on the intervention unit used this protocol to screen for delirium on all consenting inpatients 75 years of age and over, and control unit nurses continued using their standard assessment practices. Intervention unit nurses demonstrated an improved ability to identify the presence and absence of delirium, and voluntarily requested to continue using the protocol after the study was terminated. Use of a theoretical model to include nurses in the study promoted the successful conduct of the research and subsequent use of findings.