Effect of a Reorientation Technique on Postcardiotomy Delirium

Thirty-one patients—15 in a control group and 16 in an experimental group—took part in a study of a method of reducing incidence of delirium in postoperative open heart surgery patients in an intensive care unit. A specific reorientation procedure for orienting the patient to time, place, person, and physical status was administered postoperatively by intensive care unit nurses to experimental group patients. Experimental group patients subsequently demonstrated a significantly lower incidence of total symptoms of delirium, had significantly fewer postoperative complications, and were discharged from the hospital an average of four days earlier than control group patients.