Confused patients in the acute care setting: prevalence, interventions, and outcomes

1. A descriptive design was used to measure nurses' assessment of the prevalence of patients who are confused, the interventions used, and these patients' outcomes on three nursing units in an acute care setting. 2. Confused patients had less favorable outcomes at discharge than did the group of nonconfused patients. 3. Of the three interventions that were monitored, confused patients were more likely to have either restraints or medications than to have a sitter (a sitter was either a paid staff member or a family member who monitored the patient directly).