Knowledge Assignment: Alarm Fatigue
Alarm fatigue happens when one gets exposed to several frequent alarms (alerts) and gets desensitized to them hence leading to missing crucial alarms of longer response times. Alarm fatigue is a vital patient concern, and it can be extreme to the level of causing patient death. Alarms form an essential aspect of technology in healthcare since they are used in electronic medical devices or life support devices to give important alerts and enhance safety. Alarm management refers to a system for grouping, classifying, and prioritizing events and alert notifications used in supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA). Patient safety and alarm management strategies should be considered at each level, including organizational, unit, and individual caregiver levels.
Organizational Level
At the organizational level, alarm management and patient safety can be beefed up using consulting, analysis, reporting, and training services alongside alarm technologies that fit the healthcare organization’s needs. Healthcare organizations should ensure that they meet the Joint Commission’s requirements and specifications that are in line with the National Patient Safety Goals (NPSG). Consequently, healthcare organizations are expected to apply the required procedures and policies on alarm management and ensure alarm solutions are established and function effectively. Providing education to staff concerning the purpose and correct operation of alarm systems should be the topmost priority of healthcare organizations towards the provision of patient safety and alarm management.
Unit Level
Alarm management and patient safety should be monitored at the unit level to manage organizational goals. Healthcare managers and other staff can use a dashboard view to have an institutional-level and clear view of all the alarms in the entire healthcare units. Hospitals can then understand the frequency of each unit’s alarms, crucial performance indicators, as well as time in flood of each unit. With the available data, hospitals can then prioritize staff assignments hence manage alarm fatigue and improve patient safety.
Individual Caregiver
Over-flooding caregivers with several alarm conditions per patient can be exhausting. According to Sendelbach & Funk (2013), some caregivers are flooded with approximately 150-350 alarm conditions per patient daily. Flooding caregivers with such alarm conditions often results in lost productivity and staff burnout, which often leads to extended lengths of patient stay or unnecessary transfer of patients to the ICU. Hospitals can focus on increasing individual caregivers per patient to reduce over-flooding as well as provide adequate education to individual caregivers concerning their interaction and monitoring of related devices.