Developing a Delirium Educational Intervention for Nurses
Introduction
Research Area:
Delirium
What is the research about?
Delirium is the sudden and temporary change in a person’s mental function. It can cause confusion, agitation, hallucinations, and drowsiness. Delirium can be very distressing to experience, for both the patient and their loved ones. Therefore, this project aims to improve nurses’ knowledge and attitudes towards delirium through the development of an educational intervention. By improving knowledge and attitudes, the overall prevention, assessment, and management of delirium can be improved, resulting in better patient care in hospitals.
Patient and Public Involvement (PPI):
While the educational intervention is for nurses, hospital patients and the general public are going to be the ones impacted. Additionally, you are who has the lived experience of delirium, either personally, or through a loved one and therefore understands what it is like on the receiving end of care. Collaborating with someone with this insight and experience will allow the educational intervention to be more patient centred.
What will PPI contributors do?
The PPI contributor will be asked to attend three online meetings, each taking 30 minutes. In each meeting they will be asked to provide feedback and opinions on elements of the study, such as the structure of nursing focus groups and the content of the educational intervention.
Who is this opportunity for?
Anyone who has experienced delirium in a hospital setting and is now fully recovered is invited to collaborate with us on this project. People who have personal experience of hospital-based delirium though a family member or close friend are also invited to collaborate. No previous PPI experience is necessary, we only require you to be invested in the improvement of delirium care in hospital settings.
Opportunity for:
Involvement Opportunity Details
Time
Time commitment:
3 online meetings will take place, each taking 30 minutes. The first meeting will take place at the end of August, the second will be in October, and the third will be in December. These meetings can be done in person if that is preferred by the contributor and the contributor is based in the general Dublin area.
Contact between meetings:
A week before the first meeting, the contributor will be provided with a plan for the clinical focus group, including a list of topics that will be discussed and a list of questions that will be asked. This focus group will inform the development of the educational intervention draft. The PPI contributor will be asked to review the focus group plan and during the meeting they will be asked for their feedback and if there are any other topics/questions that should be included and this will be integrated into the focus group plan. After the first focus group, the anonymised results will be shared with the PPI contributor in addition to the draft educational intervention at least a week before the meeting. During the meeting they will be asked for their feedback on the intervention and if any topics that they believe are important need to be addressed in the second focus group. Their feedback will be integrated into the second focus group. This second focus group will inform the finalisation of the educational intervention. At least a week before the final meeting, the anonymised results from the second focus group will be shared, as will the final educational intervention. They will again be asked for their feedback and this will be integrated into the intervention as necessary.
Length of involvement:
6 months
Start date for involvement:
24/08/2026
Logistics
Where?
If online, explain how:
Email will be used to contact the contributor, i.e. to schedule meetings and to send the information as listed above. The three meetings can take place on Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, etc., whatever better suits the person.
If in person, explain where:
If the contributor would prefer an in-person meeting, that is also possible if they are based in the general Dublin area. This research is based out of Dublin City University and therefore the researchers can meet the contributor in a third space such as a café up to an hour drive from Dublin City University (Dublin, Meath, Kildare, and Wicklow).
Other ways of communicating:
Posting letters and supporting documentation / Text/SMS / Whatsapp
Funding available for:
If no funding available, explain why:
This project has no funding aside from the university fee’s and the researcher’s stipend.
Other Information
Stage of the research study/ programme:
Research started
Is this opportunity for PPI in a PhD:
Yes
Closing date to contact researchers:
17/08/2026
Research Team
Contact person:
Aoibhinn Boyd
University/organisation:
Dublin City University
Contact email:
aoibhinn.boyd7@mail.dcu.ie
Researcher background:
Nursing and Global Health
Research funder:
Psychotherapy and Community Health Dublin City University/ School of Nursing
Photo:
Interested in this PPI Opportunity?
Please complete this form and click SUBMIT