Experience of Wives Accompanying Elderly Patients Complicated by Delirium in a Critical Emergency Ward

Abstract

  The objective of this study was to reveal experiences of wives accompanying elderly patients with complications of delirium in a critical emergency ward. A qualitative and descriptive analysis was performed on the basis of the results of semi-structured interviews of six wives accompanying their elderly husbands with complications of delirium in a critical emergency ward. The results show that the experiences of the wives can be classified into the following six categories: being disturbed by delirium, interpreting their husband’s condition in their own way, taking care of their husband in consideration of the ward environment, feeling sorry for their husband under certain restrictions, restraining their husband from moving in order to prevent his condition from worsening, and worrying about their future life with their husband. The categories of the experiences suggest that the wives understand their husbands’ words and behaviors on the basis of their history of living together as a couple. The categories also suggest that the wives have a desire to assist their husbands as the one who can best understand them. Nurses should provide patients with necessary aid that can be shared with the wives and tell them that their actions contribute positively to their husbands’ recovery from delirium, which will result in support for the wives.