Alarms In Nursing

Automatic alerts and/or alarms are a system that converts information on the progress of a monitored process or the condition of a monitored system into a signal suitable for human perception. Generally light or sound signals are used, for example, the flashing of a lamp, the ringing of a bell, or the sounding of a siren. Use of alarms has made a significant impact on nursing as we know it, by alerting clinicians that something wrong with patients or alarming nurses that something is in need of our attention. Alarms are found on most medical devices used at the bedside. These alarms sound every hour of every day. An analysis of alarms at The John Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, revealed a total of more than 59,000 alarm conditions over
A recent survey by the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety, a patient advocacy group that receives financial backing from device and hospital instrumentation companies, found a high degree of concern about alarm fatigue among hospital officials Mckinney (2014). Even though we have numerous problems that occur due to alarms a study was done showed different ways to improve alarm fatigue, which states that multiple levels of influence and opportunities for system intervention and innovation to facilitate timely alarm responses. These include addressing the broader acoustic context, clinician responsibility, deployment and teamwork training, threshold-setting guidelines, improved user interfaces, and algorithms balancing alarm specificity and
Addressing alarm fatigue requires regulators, manufacturers, and clinical leaders recognize the importance and context of human factors and staff behavior, with the design and evaluation of devices accomplished through clinical simulations and rigorous usability testing Solet, Barach, (2012). According to a AJCC journal which states different ways to improve alarm fatigue such as: (1) unit staff should analyze their alarm parameters and alarm levels to determine if they are appropriately set and avoid duplicative alarms; (2) alarm parameters should be set to actionable levels to decrease the number of false or “nuisance” alarms occurring and increase the likelihood of the alarm being an actionable alarm so it will not begin ignored; (3) nurses must be trained to individualize alarm parameters and levels so alarms that occur are meaningful and actionable; and (4)