Table 2.

Study aims, methods and findings.

Study reference	Aims/objectives	Methodology	Data collection methods	Data analysis methods	Review themes contributed to by study	Subthemes contributed to by study
Agar et al. 22	To explore nurses’ assessment and management of delirium when caring for people with cancer, the elderly or older people requiring psychiatric care in the inpatient setting.	Grounded theory perspective	Semi-structured interviews	Thematic content analysis	1. Interpretations of delirium and their influence on care	Limited understanding of delirium as a medical condition
					2. Palliative care clinicians’ responses to the suffering of patients with delirium	Decision-making regarding medication use
Bolton et al. 54	To explore carer experiences of inpatient unit hospice care for people with dementia, delirium and related cognitive impairment.	Not stated	Semi-structured interviews	Thematic analysis	2. Palliative care clinicians’ responses to the suffering of patients with delirium	Person-centred care, communication and challenges
					3. The roles of family in delirium care	Beyond ‘person-centred’ care: responding to the needs of the family
						Family play vital roles in caregiving
Brajtman51–53	To explore and describe the impact of terminal restlessness and its treatment upon the family members who were witness to the event.	Phenomenological approach	Focus groups, semi-structured interviews	Content analysis	1. Interpretations of delirium and their influence on care	Delirium and multidimensional suffering
					2. Palliative care clinicians’ responses to the suffering of patients with delirium	Person-centred care, communication and challenges
	To explore an interdisciplinary team’s perceptions of families’ needs and experiences surrounding terminal restlessness.					Decision-making regarding medication use
					3. The roles of family in delirium care	The distressing impact of delirium on the relationship between the patient and their family
						Beyond ‘person-centred’ care: responding to the needs of the family
						Family play vital roles in caregiving
Brajtman et al. 40	To explore palliative care unit and home care nurses’ experiences of caring for patients with terminal delirium.	Not stated	Semi-structured interviews	Thematic content analysis	1. Interpretations of delirium and their influence on care	Limited understanding of delirium as a medical condition
						Delirium and multidimensional suffering
					2. Palliative care clinicians’ responses to the suffering of patients with delirium	Decision-making regarding medication use
					3. The roles of family in delirium care	Beyond ‘person-centred’ care: responding to the needs of the family
Bush et al. 41	To investigate the validity and feasibility of the RASS-PAL*, a version of the RASS** slightly modified for palliative care populations, in patients experiencing agitated delirium or receiving Palliative Sedation.	Mixed methods	Semi-structured interviews	Thematic content analysis	1. Interpretations of delirium and their influence on care	Limited understanding of delirium as a medical condition
Cohen et al. 48	To better understand the experiences of delirium of patients with advanced cancer and their caregivers	Hermeneutic phenomenological approach	Phenomenological interviews	Not stated	1. Interpretations of delirium and their influence on care	Delirium and multidimensional suffering
					2. Palliative care clinicians’ responses to the suffering of patients with delirium	Decision-making regarding medication use
					3. The roles of family in delirium care	The distressing impact of delirium on the relationship between the patient and their family
						Family play vital roles in caregiving
De Vries et al. 45	To examine the experiences of hospice nurses when administering palliative sedation in an attempt to manage the terminal restlessness experienced by cancer patients.	Phenomenological approach	Semi-structured interviews	Colazzi’s stages of analysis	1. Interpretations of delirium and their influence on care	Limited understanding of delirium as a medical condition
					2. Palliative care clinicians’ responses to the suffering of patients with delirium	Decision-making regarding medication use
					3. The roles of family in delirium care	Beyond ‘person-centred’ care: responding to the needs of the family
Gagnon et al. 42	To develop the framework of an optimal psychoeducational intervention about delirium.	Not stated	Focus groups, semi-structured interviews	Not stated	3. The roles of family in delirium care	Beyond ‘person-centred’ care: responding to the needs of the family
	To develop a brochure to be used as part of the psychoeducational intervention.					Family play vital roles in caregiving
	To implement the psychoeducational intervention and assess its effect on family and professional caregivers.
Greaves et al. 36	To better understand family caregivers’ perceptions and experiences of delirium in patients with advanced cancer	Not stated	Semi-structured interviews	Content analysis	1. Interpretations of delirium and their influence on care	Delirium and multidimensional suffering
					2. Palliative care clinicians’ responses to the suffering of patients with delirium	Decision-making regarding medication use
					3. The roles of family in delirium care	The distressing impact of delirium on the relationship between the patient and their family
						Family play vital roles in caregiving
Hosie et al.23,37,38	To explore the experiences, views and practices of inpatient palliative care nurses in delirium recognition and assessment.	Critical incident technique	Semi-structured interviews	Thematic content analysis	1. Interpretations of delirium and their influence on care	Limited understanding of delirium as a medical condition
						Delirium seen as a normal part of dying
						Delirium and multidimensional suffering
	To identify nurses’ perceptions of barriers and enablers to recognition and assessment of delirium symptoms within palliative care inpatient settings				2. Palliative care clinicians’ responses to the suffering of patients with delirium	Person-centred care, communication and challenges
					3. The roles of family in delirium care	Family play vital roles in caregiving
Hosie et al.38,39	To explore nurse perceptions of the feasibility of integrating the Nu-DESC*** into practice within the inpatient palliative care setting.	Not stated	Focus groups	Thematic content analysis	1. Interpretations of delirium and their influence on care	Limited understanding of delirium as a medical condition
Namba et al. 49	To explore: (1) what the family members of terminally ill cancer patients with delirium actually experienced, (2) how they felt, (3) how they perceived delirium and (4) what support they desired from medical staff.	Not stated	Semi-structured interviews	Content analysis	1. Interpretations of delirium and their influence on care	Delirium seen as a normal part of dying
					2. Palliative care clinicians’ responses to the suffering of patients with delirium	Person-centred care, communication and challenges
						Decision-making regarding medication use
					3. The roles of family in delirium care	The distressing impact of delirium on the relationship between the patient and their family
						Beyond ‘person-centred’ care: responding to the needs of the family
						Family play vital roles in caregiving
Szarpa et al. 47	To explore the development and progression of delirium experienced by hospice patients and to generate a theoretical model that describes the prodrome to delirium as observed by caregivers.	Grounded theory	Semi-structured interviews	Grounded theory	1. Interpretations of delirium and their influence on care	Delirium and multidimensional suffering
					3. The roles of family in delirium care	Family play vital roles in caregiving
Uchida et al. 50	To identify goals of care and treatment in terminal delirium by interviewing healthcare professionals regarding their views on currently used approaches.	Grounded theory	Semi-structured interviews	Grounded theory	2. Palliative care clinicians’ responses to the suffering of patients with delirium	Person-centred care, communication and challenges
					3. The roles of family in delirium care	Beyond ‘person-centred’ care: responding to the needs of the family
						Family play vital roles in caregiving
Waterfield et al. 46	To explore the experiences of nurses and health care assistants caring for patients with delirium in the hospice environment.	Phenomenological approach	Semi-structured interviews	Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA)	1. Interpretations of delirium and their influence on care	Limited understanding of delirium as a medical condition
					2. Palliative care clinicians’ responses to the suffering of patients with delirium	Person-centred care, communication and challenges
						Decision-making regarding medication use
Wright et al.43,44	To illustrate one of the ways in which hospice caregivers conceptualise end-of-life delirium and the significance of this conceptualisation for the relationships that they form with patients’ families in the hospice setting.	Ethnography	Participant observation, semi-structured interviews, document analysis	Not stated	1. Interpretations of delirium and their influence on care	Delirium seen as a normal part of dying
						Delirium and multidimensional suffering
					2. Palliative care clinicians’ responses to the suffering of patients with delirium	Person-centred care, communication and challenges
						Decision-making regarding medication use
	To examine the relational engagement between hospice nurses and their patients in a context of end-of-life delirium.				3. The roles of family in delirium care	The distressing impact of delirium on the relationship between the patient and their family
						Beyond ‘person-centred’ care: responding to the needs of the family

^*Richmond agitation-sedation scale- palliative care.

^**Richmond agitation-sedation scale.

^***Nursing delirium screening scale.