Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Observational Study
. 2014 Nov-Dec;22(6):1034-40.
doi: 10.1590/0104-1169.3488.2513. Epub 2014 Dec 1.

Clinical Alarms in intensive care: implications of alarm fatigue for the safety of patients

[Article in English, Portuguese, Spanish]
Adriana Carla Bridi  1 , Thiago Quinellato Louro  1 , Roberto Carlos Lyra da Silva  1
Affiliations
Observational Study

Clinical Alarms in intensive care: implications of alarm fatigue for the safety of patients

[Article in English, Portuguese, Spanish]
Adriana Carla Bridi et al. Rev Lat Am Enfermagem. 2014 Nov-Dec.

Abstract

Objectives: to identify the number of electro-medical pieces of equipment in a coronary care unit, characterize their types, and analyze implications for the safety of patients from the perspective of alarm fatigue.

Method: this quantitative, observational, descriptive, non-participatory study was conducted in a coronary care unit of a cardiology hospital with 170 beds.

Results: a total of 426 alarms were recorded in 40 hours of observation: 227 were triggered by multi-parametric monitors and 199 were triggered by other equipment (infusion pumps, dialysis pumps, mechanical ventilators, and intra-aortic balloons); that is an average of 10.6 alarms per hour.

Conclusion: the results reinforce the importance of properly configuring physiological variables, the volume and parameters of alarms of multi-parametric monitors within the routine of intensive care units. The alarms of equipment intended to protect patients have increased noise within the unit, the level of distraction and interruptions in the workflow, leading to a false sense of security.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1 -
Figure 1 -. Boxplot concerning the volume of the alarms of the multi-parametric monitors under observation. DS - Day Shift NS - Night Shift. Alarm volume: a median 75 with an IQR of 60 - 90 during the DS and a median of 90 with an IQR of 60 - 90 in the NS.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Siebig S, Kuhls S, Imhoff M, Langgartner J, Reng M, Schölmerich J, et al. Collection of annotated data in a clinical validation study for alarm algorithms in intensive care-a methodologic framework. J Crit Care. 2010;25(1):128–135. - PubMed
    1. Beccaria LM, Pereira RAM, Contrin LM, Lobo SMA, Trajano DHL. Eventos adversos na assistência de enfermagem em uma unidade de terapia intensiva. Rev Bras Ter Intensiva. 2009;21(3):276–282. - PubMed
    1. Graham KC, Cvach M. Monitor alarm fatigue: standardizing use of physiological monitors and decreasing nuisance alarms. Am J Crit Care. 2010;19(1):28–34. - PubMed
    1. Korniewicz DM, Clark T, David Y. A national online survey on the effectiveness of clinical alarms. Am J Crit Care. 2008;17(1):36–41. - PubMed
    1. Lima LF, Leventhal LC, Fernandes MPP. Identificando os riscos do paciente hospitalizado. Einstein (São Paulo). 2008;6(4):434–438.

Publication types