Delirium Awareness and Management of Intensive Care Nurses in Terms of Their Personality Traits

Abstract

Objective: The study was carried out to determine delirium awareness and management among the nurses working in intensive care in terms of their personality traits. Method: It was a descriptive study. The study was carried out in a university hospital located in the western region of Turkey between February May 1 and May 31, 2019. The sample was composed of 84 nurses who were working in the adult intensive care unit. Data collection form, The Nurses’ Delirium Knowledge Questionnaire, and the Big Five Personality Trait Test were used to collect data. Data were evaluated with t-test, ANOVA, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis H, Bonferroni Corrected Pairwise Comparison Test, and Spearman Correlation coefficient using SPSS 24.0 package program. Results: The total mean personality score of the nurses was 158.38±14.32. The total delirium knowledge score of the participants was found to be 44.77±9.83. Knowledge score of the nurses regarding the definition of delirium was found to be negatively correlated with the personality trait of extraversion whereas their delirium sign/symptom scores were positively correlated with conscientiousness, agreeableness and total big five personality trait score. In addition, positive correlations were found between delirium management score and their conscientiousness, neuroticism, and big five personality trait scores and between their total delirium knowledge score and personality trait of conscientiousness (p<0.05). Conclusions: A relationship was found between personality traits of the nurses included in the study and their delirium awareness and management. In terms of quality of care may be important in terms of taking personal traits into account when establishing training programs on delirium awareness and management among the nurses working in the intensive care units.