Strategies To Reduce Alarm Fatigue

Strategies to Reduce Alarm Fatigue

Alarm fatigue is a phenomenon that arises when health care providers get used to receiving many alarming sounds and alerts such that they fail to respond appropriately whenever there are crucial alarms. It results from many alarms that they receive, which are often non-critical, thus leading to alarm fatigue and a decline in attentiveness (Woo & Bacon, 2020). Alarm fatigue can be tackled by customizing the parameters of the alarms to help reduce the amount of notifications that the patient actually needs. Furthermore, hospitals might set specific alarm escalation policies so that code status alarms can go directly to a professional medical staff without overwhelming the first-level caregivers. Additional training sessions with the staff regarding the specific management of alarms and the prioritization of responses should be implemented to enhance the efficiency and appropriateness of actions. Alarm management and staff awareness minimize the risks posed to the patients and staff.

Another safety strategy that can be implemented is a smart alarm, where only the most critical alarms are sounded, with others placed under filters. While older alarm systems tend to generate alarms regardless of the situation, modern systems are smart enough to recognize patterns and take necessary measures to prevent false alarms while giving due attention to the critical ones (Fernandes et al., 2020). Also, organizing the alarms according to their priority level and combining diverse signals into one report will potentially increase productivity. It is also important for a multidisciplinary approach between the nurses and other healthcare professionals to address best practices in an effective and efficient approach to alerting and alarming systems that support patient safety.

Standardizing alarms and other related parameters and performing audits periodically will ensure that alarms are set at the right place with the best possible settings required for the patients. Encouraging staff feedback on alarm-related challenges fosters a culture of continuous improvement and shared responsibility. There is also the need to protect special zones from noise or periodically reduce the loud signals that distract critical messages. With the help of improving alarm management practices and encouraging culture, the main causes of alarm fatigue can be minimized, and patient safety can still be ensured at a higher level.

References

Fernandes, C., Miles, S., & Lucena, C. J. P. (2020). Detecting false alarms by analyzing alarm-context information: Algorithm development and validation. JMIR Medical Informatics, 8(5), e15407. https://doi.org/10.2196/15407

Woo, M., & Bacon, O. (2020, March 1). Alarm fatigue. Making Healthcare Safer III: A Critical Analysis of Existing and Emerging Patient Safety Practices – NCBI Bookshelf. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK555522/

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