LEARND: bLended Educational strAtegy to empower nurses for pReventioN of Delirium. Promoting empowerment in nurses by implementing and evaluating blended education therapy for delirium prevention

Delirium occurs in 15% to 20% of patients in the hospital. It is also the most common complication in the elderly and carries an increased risk of complications such as an increased cognitive decline, hospitalization, falls, malnutrion and an increased risk of death. In practice, it appears that in more than half of the cases delirium is not recognized by the healthcare staff. On the one hand, this is the result of a lack of knowledge of the health care staff about delirium. On the other hand, this is the result of a negative attitude of the health care staff towards delirium. Scientific research suggests that in addition to educating healthcare personnel, the implementation of delirium management in daily care practice, as well as behavioural change of the healthcare personnel with regard to delirium, is necessary to achieve beter outcomes for the patient. A necessary transformation of the healthcare personnel's working environment is thus essential to protect a patient from avoidable complications. Existing intervention programs with a focus on education of healthcare personnel do indeed lead to a  better knowledge about and prevention of delirium but do not influence the severity, prevalence, duration and associated mortality of the delirium. To overcome this gap, the aim of this research is to not only improve the knowledge and skills of healthcare personnel by means of a blended learning strategy, but above all to provide a working environment that enables empowerment of healthcare personnel. Finally, in order to guarantee a sustainable anchoring of the blended intervention factors will also be sought that facilitate or prevent the implementation of the intervention.