The ABCDE bundle is an evidence-based, multidisciplinary approach to optimizing patient outcomes in the adult intensive care unit (ICU). The ABCDE bundle incorporates awakening, breathing, coordination,
delirium monitoring and management, and early mobility to minimize potentially deleterious effects of prolonged hospitalization, including the development of
delirium. Health care organizations that implement the ABCDE bundle have improved patient outcomes such as decreased ICU and hospital lengths of stay, decreased duration of
mechanical ventilation, decreased prevalence and duration of
delirium, and decreased health care costs. The purpose of this evidence-based practice project was to implement the ABCDE bundle in a six-bed general adult ICU of a rural community hospital. Implementation of the bundle decreased average patient hospital
length of stay by 1.8 days, reduced length of
mechanical ventilation by an average of 1 day, and established a baseline
delirium prevalence of 19% over a 3-month time period. The results of this project indicate that the ABCDE bundle can be implemented in rural, community-based hospitals and provides a safe, cost-effective method for enhancing ICU patient outcomes.