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

Bibliographic Details
Title: Clinical Alarms in intensive care: implications of alarm fatigue for the safety of patients
Authors: Adriana Carla Bridi, Thiago Quinellato Louro, Roberto Carlos Lyra da Silva
Source: Revista Latino-Americana de Enfermagem, Vol 22, Iss 6, Pp 1034-1040 (2014)
Publisher Information: Universidade de São Paulo, 2014.
Publication Year: 2014
Collection: LCC:Nursing
Subject Terms: Enfermería, Cuidados Intensivos, Monitoreo, Alarmas Clínicas, Enfermedad Iatrogénica, Seguridad del Paciente, Nursing, RT1-120
More Details: 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.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
Spanish; Castilian
Portuguese
ISSN: 1518-8345
0104-1169
Relation: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0104-11692014000601034&lng=en&tlng=en; https://doaj.org/toc/1518-8345
DOI: 10.1590/0104-1169.3488.2513
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/279b6188217b4d46b1ad427c6919e505
Accession Number: edsdoj.279b6188217b4d46b1ad427c6919e505
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:15188345
01041169
DOI:10.1590/0104-1169.3488.2513
Published in:Revista Latino-Americana de Enfermagem
Language:English
Spanish; Castilian
Portuguese