{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,12]],"date-time":"2026-09-12T18:21:07Z","timestamp":1789237267366,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,10]],"date-time":"2025-09-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1757462400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Med."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>Delirium is a common and serious complication among patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Nurses have an essential role in dealing with delirium in critical illness. However, understanding of ICU nurses\u2019 knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP)on delirium is limited, and large-scale survey lacking.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title><jats:p>To explore the status and related factors of KAP of delirium among critical care nurses in China.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>From February to May 2019, a cross-sectional survey was conducted among 3,199 intensive care nurses from 160 hospitals across China using a convenience sampling approach. An online questionnaire was designed and distributed to evaluate the KAP of nurses. Univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses were used to assess the factors that influenced ICU nurses\u2019 KAP.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>A total of 3,199 valid questionnaires were collected. Overall, the scores of ICU nurses\u2019 knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding delirium assessment were 38.00 (33.00, 44.00), 23.00 (19.00, 26.00), and 16.00 (12.00, 19.00), respectively. Among the respondents, the proportions of individuals providing positive responses regarding their knowledge, attitude, and practice scores were 48.59%, 58.27%, and 40.52%, respectively. The attitude scores of the nurses were significantly related to knowledge scores (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> &amp;lt; 0.001). Moreover, the scores for nurses\u2019 practice show a significant correlation with their knowledge scores (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> &amp;lt; 0.001) and attitudes scores (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> &amp;lt; 0.001). Multivariate linear regression analysis showed a higher level of education (P = 0.037), surgical ICU (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic> = 0.02), private hospital (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic> &amp;lt; 0.001), clinical position (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic> = 0.007), shorter working hours (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic> &amp;lt; 0.001), primary professional title (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic> &amp;lt; 0.001), and previous experience in delirium nursing (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic> &amp;lt; 0.001)and training (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic> &amp;lt; 0.001)were related to higher practice scores.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>The knowledge of delirium among ICU nurses is at a moderate level. While these nurses exhibit a positive attitude toward this issue, their actual practices tend to reflect a relatively negative approach. Managers and nursing researchers should develop and offer standardized training for critical care nurses to improve their KAP toward delirium in critically ill patients.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fmed.2025.1552923","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,10]],"date-time":"2025-09-10T05:24:19Z","timestamp":1757481859000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Knowledge, attitude, and practice of intensive care nurses toward delirium: a multicenter cross-section study"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Dabing","family":"Dai","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yongming","family":"Tian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wenwen","family":"Jing","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Huan","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yu","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"461","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ccc.2017.03.013","article-title":"Acute brain failure: pathophysiology, diagnosis, management, and sequelae of delirium.","volume":"33","author":"Maldonado","year":"2017","journal-title":"Crit Care Clin"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1456","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMcp1605501","article-title":"Delirium in hospitalized older adults.","volume":"377","author":"Marcantonio","year":"2017","journal-title":"N Engl J Med"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1753","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.291.14.1753","article-title":"Delirium as a predictor of mortality in mechanically ventilated patients in the intensive care unit.","volume":"291","author":"Ely","year":"2004","journal-title":"JAMA"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1306","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMoa1301372","article-title":"Long-term cognitive impairment after critical illness.","volume":"369","author":"Pandharipande","year":"2013","journal-title":"N Engl J Med"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"409","DOI":"10.1097\/CCM.0b013e3181cabb42","article-title":"Different assessment tools for intensive care unit delirium: Which score to use?","volume":"38","author":"Luetz","year":"2010","journal-title":"Crit Care Med"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2703","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.286.21.2703","article-title":"Delirium in mechanically ventilated patients: validity and reliability of the confusion assessment method for the intensive care unit (CAM-ICU).","volume":"286","author":"Ely","year":"2001","journal-title":"JAMA"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"859","DOI":"10.1007\/s001340100909","article-title":"Intensive care delirium screening checklist: evaluation of a new screening tool.","volume":"27","author":"Bergeron","year":"2001","journal-title":"Intensive Care Med."},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2510","DOI":"10.1111\/jan.14482","article-title":"Diagnostic test accuracy of the Nursing Delirium Screening Scale: A systematic review and meta-analysis.","volume":"76","author":"Jeong","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. 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