Establishing curriculum priorities for intensive care recovery education: an international Delphi study

To effectively support recovery, intensive care unit (ICU) clinicians require training to identify patients at risk of post-intensive care syndrome and implement interventions during and after ICU admission. This study aimed to identify and prioritise curriculum topics for educating interprofessional ICU clinicians on evidence-based ICU recovery care across the continuum of critical illness.

A two-round e-Delphi study followed by a structured consensus meeting endorsed by the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) was conducted. A steering committee generated an initial list of curriculum topics. In round 1, participants rated topic importance (9-point Likert scale) and suggested additional topics. In round 2, they rated newly identified topics and ranked priorities. Topics reaching consensus (≥70% rating as critical [7-9]; ≤15% rating as not important [1-3]) were discussed during the final consensus meeting.

Participants' mean age was 43.5 (±10.5) years and they were predominantly female (n = 90, 66.7%). Priority topics included early mobilisation during ICU admission, post-intensive care syndrome, delirium prevention and management, implementation of the ABCDEF bundle, and cognitive support and rehabilitation. The final set of learning modules for a future curriculum was established.

Priority topics and learning modules for an expert-developed curriculum framework for ICU recovery were established with interprofessional ICU clinicians through a structured international consensus process with moderate levels of participant retention between the two Delphi rounds and full consensus agreement among experts. This framework may support in delivering recovery-focused care across the continuum of critical illness.