Perceptions and practices related to clinical alarms

• Published in: Nursing forum (Hillsdale) Vol. 54; no. 3; pp. 369 - 375
• Main Authors: Mirhafez, Seyed Reza, Movahedi, Ali, Moghadam‐Pasha, Azam, Mohammadi, Gholamreza, Moeini, Vahid, Moradi, Zahra, Kavosi, Ali, Aryayi Far, Mohammadreza
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Hindawi Limited 01-07-2019
• Subjects: Adult; Alarms; Attitude of Health Personnel; clinical alarms; Clinical Alarms - adverse effects; Clinical Alarms - standards; Clinical Alarms - trends; Clinical nursing; False alarms; Fatigue; Female; Health care; Hospitals; Humans; Iran; Male; Medical technology; Middle Aged; Monitoring, Physiologic - methods; Monitoring, Physiologic - nursing; Monitoring, Physiologic - standards; Nurses; Nurses - psychology; Nurses - statistics & numerical data; Nursing; Nursing Process - trends; Patients; Perception; Perceptions; practice; Professional training; Random sampling; Surveys and Questionnaires; Iran; practice; clinical alarms; nurses; perception
• ISSN: 0029-6473; 1744-6198
• DOI: 10.1111/nuf.12338

Background
Clinical alarms represent the top hazard listed in the “Top Ten Health Technology Hazards” report. Frequent false alarms can disrupt patient care and reduce trust in alarms.
Aim
The aim of the present study was to investigate the perceptions and practices of critical and noncritical care nurses regarding clinical alarms.
Methodology
This was a descriptive analytical study conducted from October 2016 to February 2017 at three hospitals on 197 nurses at Neyshabur University of Medical Sciences in Neyshabur, Northeastern Iran. Participants were selected through stratified random sampling. The perceptions were measured through the 2011 Health care Technology Foundation Clinical Alarms Survey.
Results
More than half of the nurses believed that frequent false alarms reduced trust in alarms, leading nurses to inappropriately disable alarms. The nurses ranked frequent false alarms as the most important issue in response to alarms. More than 60% of the nurses indicated that they needed more training on the use of bedside and central monitors.
Conclusion
The result of this study suggested that frequent false alarms, as the most important issue related to alarms, should be taken into account by hospital administrators and researchers to decrease alarm fatigue and improve alarm system safety. More specialized clinical policies and procedures for alarm management should also be considered.