| Sumario: | • Former patients want to be visually stimulated via photographs and television. • Virtual reality also shows potential for use visually stimulating patients. • If videos are shown, auditory stimuli should match the visual content. • Visual and auditory stimulation can give the patient orientation while in the ICU. • Duration of stimulation should be adjusted per patient but remain rather short, in general less than 30 min. To determine what type (e.g., television, photographs, music, etc), content (e.g., nature scenes, family members, etc), and duration of visual and auditory stimuli should be provided to intensive care unit patients during their hospitalisation. This mixed-methods study followed an exploratory-descriptive design. In total, 31 participants were interviewed: 19 were former critically ill patients in the intensive care unit and 12 were nursing experts, all from a university hospital in Switzerland. Based on current practice, patients and nurses were familiar with receiving and providing television, photographs, radio, and musical stimuli, with no specific exposure to virtual reality, aside from that in their personal lives. Data were collected from the former patients using structured interviews, whereas semi-structured interviews were used for the nursing experts. Overall, patient and expert opinions aligned well; both groups agreed that receiving visual and/or auditory stimuli would benefit patients. Photographs, television, and virtual reality were the visual stimuli most chosen by the patients, with an emphasis on nature-focused content. When appropriate, audio matching the content should be provided alongside the visual stimuli to act as a distraction from the hospital environment. Visual stimuli should not exceed 10–15 min, while auditory stimuli should not exceed one hour. Sensory overload and deprivation are common problems in the intensive care unit with negative effects on patient outcomes. Based on patient and expert opinions, visual and auditory stimuli are desired by patients and could help address these issues.
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