A Retrospective Study on the Effect of Empowerment Psychological Intervention Led by Specialist Nurses on Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in ICU Patients.

Background: Many patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which seriously affects the treatment, recovery, and prognosis of patients.

Objective: To observe the effect of empowerment psychological intervention on the status of PTSD in ICU patients.

Methods: A total of 86 patients with PTSD who were treated in ICU from July 2019 to December 2021 were divided into two groups according to the intervention method. The control group (n = 43) used routine psychological intervention, while the intervention group (n = 43) used empowerment psychological intervention led by specialist nurses. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to assess the sleep quality of the patients. The Resilience Questionnaire (CD-RISC) was used to evaluate the resilience of the patients, and the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Self-Rating Scale (PTSD-SS) was used to assess the severity of the symptoms. The Hamilton Anxiety and Depression Inventory (HAMA and HAMD) was adapted to assess the degree of anxiety and depression, and the Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) was adapted to evaluate the post-traumatic growth of the patients.

Results: After the intervention, the total CD-RISC score and its tenacity, self-improvement, and optimism scores in the two groups were all higher than before, and the total PSQI score and its sleep quality, time, efficiency and impairment, as well as hypnotic drugs, daytime dysfunction and time to sleep were lower than before, and the CD-RISC score in the intervention group was higher than that in the control group, PSQI score was lower than that in the control group (p < 0.05). After the intervention, PTSD-SS scores and anxiety-depression scores were lower, and PTGI scores were higher in both groups than before (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: The empowerment psychological intervention led by specialist nurses applied to ICU patients with PTSD can improve their psychological resilience and sleep quality, reduce negative emotions, alleviate clinical symptoms, and promote post-traumatic growth.