The effect of the sedation protocol on the level of consciousness in ventilator-dependent trauma patients hospitalized in Intensive Care Unit( ICU)

Background& Objective: The ultimate goal of treatment of patients in intensive care unit is increasing their level of consciousness. The present study was conducted aimed to determine the effect of sedation protocol on level of consciousness in ventilator-dependent trauma patients who hospitalized in intensive care unit.

 Material & Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 80 patients undergoing mechanical ventilation in intensive care units (ICU) of selected hospitals in Zahedan in 2013. At first, patients were selected through purposive sampling and then randomly allocated into intervention and control groups. Patients in intervention group received the sedation protocol proposed by Society of Critical Care Medicine. Data were gathered through Richmond-Agitation Sedation Scale, behavioral pain scale and Glasgow Coma Scale. Data were analyzed in SPSS 18 through using the independent t-tests.

 Results: Level of patient’s sedation was near to ideal score for Richmond in intervention group in compare with the patients in control group (-1 to +1). There was significant difference between two groups regarding the relaxation of patients (p<0.001). Also, the level of consciousness in patients has significant increase in intervention group in compare with control group (p=0.02) 

Conclusion: The results showed that the use of sedation protocol can increase the level of consciousness in the hospitalized patients in intensive care unit. Thus, it is recommended that this protocol was used by nurses.