Alarm fatigue: impacts on patient safety : Current Opinion in Anesthesiology

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TECHNOLOGY, EDUCATION AND SAFETY: Edited by Sven Staender

Alarm fatigue

impacts on patient safety

Ruskin, Keith J.a; Hueske-Kraus, Dirkb

Author Information

aDepartment of Anesthesia and Critical Care, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, Chicago, Ilinois, USA

bM2O Services, Philips Medizin Systeme Böblingen GmbH, Patient Care and Monitoring Solutions, Böblingen, Germany

Correspondence to Keith J. Ruskin, Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA. E-mail: [email protected]

Current Opinion in Anaesthesiology 28(6):p 685-690, December 2015. | DOI: 10.1097/ACO.0000000000000260

Abstract

Purpose of review 

Electronic medical devices are an integral part of patient care. As new devices are introduced, the number of alarms to which a healthcare professional may be exposed may be as high as 1000 alarms per shift. The US Food and Drug Administration has reported over 500 alarm-related patient deaths in five years. The Joint Commission, recognizing the clinical significance of alarm fatigue, has made clinical alarm management a National Patient Safety Goal.

Recent findings 

Potential solutions to alarm fatigue include technical, organizational, and educational interventions. Selecting only the right monitors (i.e., avoiding overmonitoring), judicious selection of alarm limits, and multimodal alarms can all reduce the number of nuisance alarms to which a healthcare worker is exposed.

Summary 

Alarm fatigue can jeopardize safety, but some clinical solutions such as setting appropriate thresholds and avoiding overmonitoring are available.

Copyright © 2015 YEAR Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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