Volume 30, Issue 4 e70083
RESEARCH ARTICLE

A Multimodal Educational Programme to Enhance Nurses' Proficiency in Delirium Recognition in a Paediatric Intensive Care Unit

Ling-Ling Zuo

Ling-Ling Zuo

Department of PICU Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health and Disorders, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Child Neurodevelopment and Cognitive Disorders, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China

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Shan He

Corresponding Author

Shan He

Department of PICU Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health and Disorders, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Child Neurodevelopment and Cognitive Disorders, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China

Correspondence:

Shan He ([email protected])

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Guan-Feng He

Guan-Feng He

Department of PICU Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health and Disorders, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Child Neurodevelopment and Cognitive Disorders, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China

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Ze-Lan Zuo

Ze-Lan Zuo

Department of PICU Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health and Disorders, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Child Neurodevelopment and Cognitive Disorders, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China

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Min Liao

Min Liao

Department of PICU Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health and Disorders, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Child Neurodevelopment and Cognitive Disorders, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China

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First published: 01 June 2025

Funding: This work was supported by the Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University. The funders had no part in the study design, conduct or data analysis and did not have any authority over these activities. Nursing Scientific Research Project of Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University in 2021 (CHCQMU2021.07).

Ling-ling Zuo and Shan He contributed equally to this work and should be considered co-first authors.

ABSTRACT

Background

Delirium, a common complication in paediatric intensive care units (PICUs), can significantly impede recovery and lead to adverse outcomes. The Cornell Assessment of Pediatric Delirium (CAPD) scale, a subjective tool for delirium identification, is influenced by nurses' clinical expertise and cognitive abilities. Therefore, targeted education and training for health care providers are essential.

Aim

This study aimed to enhance PICU nurses' ability to assess paediatric delirium through a Multimodal Educational Programme based on the PRECEDE (Predisposing, Reinforcing and Enabling Causes in Educational Diagnosis and Evaluation) model.

Study Design

A descriptive quantitative study with a pretest-post-test design was conducted. Sixty-five PICU nurses participated in a one-month training programme on paediatric delirium. Training effectiveness was evaluated using the “Nurses' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behavior Survey on Pediatric Delirium,” the “CAPD Competency Test,” and clinical data from CAPD scale usage.

Results

Post-training, nurses demonstrated significant improvements in knowledge (95% CI [1.002, 3.518], p < 0.01), attitudes (95% CI [0.344, 3.036], p < 0.05) and behaviours (95% CI [1.806, 5.094], p < 0.001) related to paediatric delirium. Proficiency in using the CAPD scale also improved significantly (t = −18.453, 95% CI [6.892, 8.308], p < 0.001). Inter-rater consistency increased from 66.12% to 87.31% (p < 0.05).

Conclusions

The PRECEDE model-based training programme effectively enhanced nurses' knowledge, attitudes and behaviours regarding paediatric delirium and improved their assessment skills. Future studies should collect data on delirium incidence to determine whether the training reduces paediatric delirium occurrence.

Relevance to Clinical Practice

This training programme promotes more accurate paediatric delirium assessment using the CAPD scale, thereby improving inter-rater consistency among PICU nurses.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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