Impact of delirium intervention on cognitive load among nurses in the intensive care unit: A multi-centre cluster randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Background: High cognitive load in nurses is a common problem in the intensive care unit (ICU). However, it remains unclear what different types of cognitive load the ICU nurses have experienced during the implementation of delirium interventions. Aim: To describe the characteristics and explore the effect of implementing a delirium intervention on the cognitive load of nurses working in the ICU. Methods: A cluster-randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted. Six ICUs were randomized in a 1:1 ratio, and eligible nurses from these units provided either a delirium bundle intervention in addition to usual care (27 nurses) or usual care alone. An instrument was used to measure different types of cognitive load (MDT-CL), assessing intrinsic, extraneous and germane cognitive load. The repeated measures analysis of variance was used to detect between-group differences. Results: Among these nurses, significant between-group differences were identified in terms of their overall (P < 0.001), intrinsic (P < 0.001) and extraneous (P < 0.001) cognitive load. There was no significant change observed in the germane cognitive load (P = 0.489) in the delirium intervention group. Conclusion: It is important to understand how the implementation of a delirium intervention affects different types of cognitive load in nurses, in order that tailored strategies can be applied to reduce cognitive load in ICU nurses.