Introduction:

The nursing staff is a primary element in the care of the elderly with Delirium, highlighting not only knowledge but also the ability and attitude to approach non-pharmacological treatment. The competences allow to identify areas of opportunity that direct strategies to raise the quality of attention to the beneficiaries.

Objective:

To establish the competence level of the nursing staff in the non-pharmacological treatment of delirium, in the elderly in a third level unit.

Material and methods:

an analytical cross-sectional study was carried out from October to November 2018, in areas of hospitalization, emergency, intensive cardiovascular therapy, intensive post-surgical therapy, and alternate role of the Cardiology Hospital of the National Medical Center Siglo XXI. An instrument with 48 items was designed, divided into two sections: the first sociodemoinline-graphic data, labor data and training (21 items); the second with a structured clinical case (27 items) that evaluates the phases of knowledge, skills and attitudes, valuing the competences according to the model of Patricia Benner in its five levels: novice (<6), advanced beginner (7 -12), competent (13-18), efficient19-25) and expert (26-27). The instrument was validated in expert round 3 of 5, Alpha de Cronbach .814. We used descriptive and non-parametric statistics, Kruskall-Wallis test, Sperman test and square chi test.

Results:

110 nurses were interviewed. The age, the average was of 40.71 ± 9.13, the feminine sex formed 70%, the academic level of the degree reflected 35.5%. The levels of competence were: beginner 1%, competent 39% and efficient 60%, according to the phases that integrate the competences the qualifications: knowledge 7.1 skills 6.9, and attitudes 7.9. The level of competence was correlated with the academic degree (p <0.005).

Conclusions:

The nursing staff, their level of competence was efficient, in the non-pharmacological treatment of Delirium. An area of opportunity was identified with respect to the skills that must be possessed in the non-pharmacological treatment of Delirium, which will allow the teaching-learning processes to be redirected in the nursing staff.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )