[Pathophysiology and Assessment of Delirium in Patients Who are Critically Ill in the Intensive Care Unit]

Delirium is a common clinical problem among adult patients receiving care in intensive care units (ICU). In recent years, several guidelines for the diagnosis, treatments, and care of ICU adult patient's delirium have been published with the objective of assisting clinical care teams to address the issue of delirium more effectively. In order to improve the understanding of delirium among ICU nursing staffs, the prevalence and common types of delirium in adult ICU settings are introduced in this article. In addition, recently published articles are synthesized to demonstrate the pathophysiological mechanisms of delirium, introduce the predictive assessment model of risk factors and two commonly used behavioral screening assessment tools, and describe the approach to conducting physiological assessments in delirium patients with acute and critical illnesses.