Help staff recognise change and know what to do
The foundation gives support staff, students and professionals a common account of delirium. It begins with a typical patient, then covers recognition, assessment, causes, care, prevention and recovery. Each learner applies the teaching within their own role.
Staff can learn independently. Educators can use the same material for discussion, supervision or a team session. The notes, cases and local preparation sheet make the teaching easier to organise.
A shared approach to care
Notice a new change. Seek the appropriate assessment and help. Treat physical causes while attending to fear and distress. Prevent complications, communicate with the person and family, and continue care through recovery or planned follow-up.
The Delirium Core Model and ACE-T
The Delirium Core Model is a provisional framework for organising these shared principles. The curriculum follows its emphasis on recognition, physical and psychological care, prevention, communication and recovery. Use current guidance for clinical decisions.
ACE-T provides a further structure for the early nursing response: acute triggers, patient experience, and treatment and communication. It supports nursing care alongside the wider clinical team. Introduce it where your service adopts the tool and its local pathway. Its four-hour target is for completing, initiating or escalating applicable actions; urgent concerns need immediate action.
Start with the foundation, then choose further learning
Start with Delirium in 30
The 30-minute foundation is suitable as an introduction for healthcare professionals, students and support staff caring for adults. It provides the shared knowledge needed for the other modules. Staff unfamiliar with healthcare terms can first use the optional eight-minute preparation course.
Choose safety, distress and agitation when relevant
The 35-minute safety module covers therapeutic engagement, de-escalation, patient and staff safety, severe agitation and careful use of medicines. It includes ICU examples and links to specialist guidance. Delirium in 30 is the prerequisite.
Select further topics
Use Identifying triggers, Distress in delirium, Communication in delirium care or Persistent delirium for further study. The 4AT cases support assessment practice. The website’s illustrated cases and the booklet are parallel teaching resources.
Resources for your next session
Three-page curriculum
Learning outcomes, course sequence and topics to add locally.
20 example cases
One case per page, with decisions, learning points and course links.
Case booklet for printing
The same booklet on white paper, with clickable links and QR codes.
Delirium in 30 teaching slides
Editable slides with teaching notes and source links.
Safety teaching slides
Discussion and rehearsal after the foundation course.
Teaching and local preparation guide
Session plans, use of film, evaluation questions and a sheet for local arrangements.
One-page practice card
A reminder of recognition, immediate response and continuing care.
Read the case booklet as accessible HTML. The learning points open after each story and its questions.
Use the pack in a way that fits your service
Ten minutes at a handover
Choose one case. Ask each person for a first action before revealing the learning points. Finish by confirming the local response and who to contact.
A shared introduction
Ask staff to complete Delirium in 30, then allow 20 minutes together for two cases, a handover exercise and questions. Use the slides to revisit a point that needs explanation.
Teaching about difficult encounters
After the safety module, allow a further 25 minutes for a case discussion and local rehearsal. Confirm emergency contacts, staff roles, communication support and care after an incident. Practical restraint and emergency medication require the appropriate local training.
The foundation and safety courses together take about 65 minutes. Optional preparation adds eight minutes. These are planned durations. Allow additional time for discussion and individual learning needs.
Completion certificates without registration
Learners answer the assessment questions, read the feedback and may retry. A certificate becomes available once they meet the course requirements and confirm that they have reviewed the explanations. The foundation and safety modules require correct answers to specified safety questions.
The learner enters a name locally and prints or saves the certificate. The certificate records course completion. Use your existing process for recording completion and assessing practical skills.
Patient experience and further resources
Selected films include a survivor’s account from Think Delirium and short simulated teaching scenes. Each has a purpose and discussion prompt. Written alternatives support learning where a film is unavailable.
Use the guide to delirium care, the official 4AT instructions and Delirium Support alongside the courses. For ICU, use the 2025 PADIS update with the 2018 guidance and your unit’s protocols.
Invite your team
Copy this invitation and add your local arrangements before sending it.
Please complete Delirium in 30 before our teaching session. It is a free introduction to delirium for staff caring for adults, with examples, questions and answer feedback. No registration is needed.
Start at https://deliriumacademy.com/introduction-to-delirium/
If healthcare terms are new to you, use the short preparation course linked from the foundation. Save your completion certificate and bring one question or observation to our discussion.
Session date and local contact: [add details]
Adapt the teaching and check its use
Original Academy text is available under CC BY 4.0. Credit the Academy, link to the source and identify changes. Please keep clinical qualifications and references. The 4AT and third-party media have separate terms.
Ask learners how long the course took, which terms were unclear and what they would do in a new case. Review the local escalation routes and any practical barriers.
Version 1.0 · Source and language review: 20 September 2026.