Nurse-led surgical care improved sleep scores without a clear delirium benefit
A randomized orthopedic surgery trial found better reported sleep and shorter hospital stays, while delirium and short-term mortality comparisons were not statistically significant.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
The care program improved sleep questionnaire scores and was associated with a shorter average hospital stay compared with standard care. It did not show statistically significant reductions in delirium or short-term mortality. These outcomes should remain separate: a sleep benefit does not establish prevention of postoperative confusion or a survival benefit.
The abstract gives significance tests without the size of the sleep or hospital-stay differences. It also does not explain how blinding worked for the multicomponent program, limiting abstract-only appraisal of the trial.
What researchers found
Richards-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire
The care program versus standard care during the perioperative study; exact questionnaire assessment times and score differences were not reported.
The intervention was a package
The program combined medication-based pain management, music therapy, breathing-muscle training, and a structured sleep protocol. Because the trial tested the package, its results do not identify which component contributed to the observed sleep improvement.
Null outcomes still need precision
Delirium and mortality comparisons did not reach statistical significance. Without event counts or confidence intervals in the abstract, those results cannot establish that the program has no effect on either outcome.
The original publication
The effect of a nurse-led multicomponent intervention on sleep quality and delirium in orthopedic surgery patients: A randomized clinical trial.
Sohrabi M, Gholami M, Foroughi S et al.
Int J Orthop Trauma Nurs · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 40886698
- Record checked
AI-assisted research and writing. This explains one selected publication; it is not a complete review of everything known. Our approach.
One more question, understood.
Keep track of the research you’ve explored.