Cluster nursing can reduce postoperative delirium and improve the negative emotions and quality of life of elderly ICU patients.

OBJECTIVE To explore the application effect of cluster nursing in post-surgery elderly patients in intensive care units (ICU). METHODS From March 2019 to August 2020, a total of 167 elderly patients admitted to the ICU in Changzhou No. 2 People's Hospital, the Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University were recruited as the study cohort. They were divided into a test group (n=85) and a control group (n=82). The patients in the control group underwent routine nursing, and the patients in the test group underwent cluster nursing in addition to the nursing the control group underwent. The two groups' incidences of delirium, their quality of life, and their mental health were compared. RESULTS The total incidences of delirium in the test group were significantly lower than they were in the control group, and the delirium outcome rate was significantly higher than it was in the control group. A comparison of the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE ll) and Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) scores before and after the nursing showed that the test group had notably lower scores than the control group. In addition, the nursing satisfaction rate in the test group was 88.24%, which was significantly higher than the rate in the control group (73.17%). The hospitalization expenses of the test group were lower, with a notably improved quality of life. CONCLUSION Cluster nursing can reduce the incidence of delirium and improve the quality of life and mental health of post-surgery elderly ICU patients.