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Alarm Fatigue Prevention

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Alarm Fatigue Prevention

Alarm fatigue is a serious issue affecting patients’ safety and care quality. Hence, it is

necessary to develop comprehensive measures to improve alarm management. Healthcare

settings work as systems. Hence, measures should start from the organizational level and spill to

the unit and individual levels. Professionals should understand what can be done at the various

levels to implement measures and advocacy to reduce the effects of the alarms.

At the individual level, nurses must find ways to tackle the problems at the bedside. Such

measures are those within professionals’ practice scope and those with enough resources to

implement successfully. For instance, among the cause of alarm notifications is electrodes

interacting with foreign material on patients’ skin (Leigher et al., 2020). Hence, professionals

using functional electrodes should clean skin surfaces at the lowest level to enno foreign

materials that can affect the results. Nurses should always ensure that their patient's skin surfaces

do not have particles and other materials that may affect the readings of the devices (Leigher et

al., 2020). However, professionals must get adequate organizational support for the measure to

work.

At the unit level, administrators should ensure that devices are well-serviced. Well-

serviced devices perform well and do not malfunction easily. For instance, they should ensure

that the devices’ electrodes are changed s required to ensure that they are effective (Baker &

Rodger, 2020). While units may have functional machines, the improved usage of the devices or

not performing maintenance activities as required may cause them to malfunction (Baker &

Rodger, 2020). Hence, components that may contribute to malfunction, like electrodes, should be

frequently changed as required by manufacturers to ensure that their usage results are good.
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Organizations should improve the usage of alarms and avoid false alarms by acquiring

high-quality devices. The devices acquired should meet minimum standards and the needs of

various healthcare organizations (Baker & Rodger, 2020). Getting poor-quality devices may

encourage false alarms organizations should prioritize. However, getting the best devices and

ensuring that the facility has everything needed ensures that the facility organization. Facilities

must consult relevant parties before acquiring devices to ensure they are supported by evidence

and recommended by other users.

In conclusion, alarm fatigue is among the issues that adversely impact professionals.

While they should help prevent adverse events and remind nurses to perform various care

functions, when they become too much, they cause alarm fatigue and impact professionals'

ability to focus and provide the best care. Therefore, facilities should have measures at different

levels to mitigate the effects of the alarms. Individuals should clean patients’ skins before placing

electrodes. Units should ensure proper staff servicing, and organizations should acquire the

appropriate devices to ensure optimal results.

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References

Baker, K., & Rodger, J. (2020). Assessing causes of alarm fatigue in long-term acute care and its

impact on identifying clinical changes in patient conditions. Informatics in Medicine

Unlocked, 18, 100300. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.imu.2020.100300

Leigher, D., Kemppainen, P., & Neyens, D. M. (2020). Skin preparation and electrode

replacement to reduce alarm fatigue in a community hospital intensive care

unit. American Journal of Critical Care, 29(5), 390-395.

https://doi.org/10.4037/ajcc2020120