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
. 2023 Apr 19:9:23779608231170730.
doi: 10.1177/23779608231170730. eCollection 2023 Jan-Dec.

Assessment of Alarm Fatigue Risk Among Oncology Nurses in Jordan

Hamza Ali Al-Quraan  1 , Amjad Eid  1 , Aladeen Alloubani  1
Affiliations

Assessment of Alarm Fatigue Risk Among Oncology Nurses in Jordan

Hamza Ali Al-Quraan et al. SAGE Open Nurs. .

Abstract

Introduction: Using technology in the clinical setting where clinical alarms frequently occur, resulting in many false alarms, which is called alarm fatigue, alarm fatigue may increase nurses' distraction, and that might negatively affect patient safety.

Objective: This study aimed to assess alarm fatigue among oncology nurses in Jordan.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional design was used in a non-profit specialized cancer center. A self-reported questionnaire was answered by nurses who participated in the study.

Results: A total of 222 questionnaires were analyzed with a more than 95% response rate. More than half of the sample (60.4%) were females. The participants were young nurses with a mean age of 25.18 ± 3.33 years. The total mean score of alarm fatigue was 31.62 ± 7.14 on a scale ranging from zero to 52. Post-hoc analysis showed that the palliative unit (25.73 ± 7.22) and emergency room (28.73 ± 6.62) had low scores of total mean alarm fatigue than remaining area of practice, such as the ICU (33.92 ± 6.99); p-value: .004.

Conclusion: Alarm fatigue is a global issue affecting many practice areas. An educational program is recommended for nurses to learn how to deal with alarm fatigue. In order to effectively manage alarms, nurses' education and individual training are crucial.

Keywords: alarm fatigue; nurses; oncology; patient safety.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

References

    1. American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. (2013). AACN practice alert: Alarm management. Critical Care Nurse, 33(5), 83–86. doi: 10.4037/ccn2013719 - DOI - PubMed
    1. American Association of Critical-Care nurses. (2018). Managing alarms in acute care across the life span: Electrocardiography and pulse oximetry. Critical Care Nurse, 38(2), e16–e20. https://www.aacn.org//clinical-resources/practice-alerts/managing-alarms... - PubMed
    1. Andrade-Méndez B., Arias-Torres D. O., Gómez-Tovar L. O. (2020). Alarm fatigue in the intensive care unit: Relevance and response time. Enfermería Intensiva (English Ed.), 31(3), 147–153. - PubMed
    1. Bach T. A., Berglund L. M., Turk E. (2018). Managing alarm systems for quality and safety in the hospital setting. BMJ Open Quality, 7(3). - PMC - PubMed
    1. Baillargeon, E. (2013). Alarm fatigue: A risk assessment [Master’s thesis]. Dissertations, Graduate Research and Major Papers Overview. doi:10.28971/532013BE48

LinkOut - more resources