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Alarm Fatigue and Nurses' Perspective on Alarm Management in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
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Ali Karimi-rozveh   , Elahe Nasrollahi Bishe3 , Soheila Mahmoudi , Leila Sayadi * |
| , sayadi117@hotmail.com |
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Abstract: (544 Views) |
Introduction: Alarm fatigue occurs when there is a high number of alarms and their sensitivity leads to complications and endangers patient safety. Effective management of these alarms is crucial in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) due to the delicate conditions of newborns. Therefore, this study aims to investigate alarm fatigue and gain insights into nurses' perspectives on alarm management in NICUs.
Methods: This descriptive study was conducted in the year 1400 and included 96 nurses working in neonatal intensive care units affiliated with Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Convenience sampling was used to select participants. The researchers collected data using a demographic information questionnaire, a clinical alarms survey, and a nurses' alarm fatigue questionnaire. Subsequently, the data were analyzed using SPSS software.
Results: The nurses' alarm fatigue score was found to be 19.65±6.35, indicating a moderate level of alarm fatigue. Furthermore, the findings revealed a statistically significant positive correlation between the number of working hours per month and alarm fatigue (P=0.017). As the number of working hours increased, nurses experienced more fatigue due to alarms. The results also showed that 44 nurses (45.8%) reported no improvement in the clinical alarm system in the past two years. Additionally, 46 individuals (47.9%) stated that the institute had not implemented new technological solutions to ensure alarm safety. Among the participants, 25 nurses (26%) reported unfortunate incidents caused by issues with clinical alarms in the past two years.
Conclusion: Intervention is necessary to reduce the frequency of disturbing alarms and improve incident management. This can be achieved by implementing advanced monitoring systems and addressing inappropriate alarm handling. Potential solutions include adjusting nurses' working hours on a monthly basis, providing training to enhance their knowledge, and combining training with technology-based interventions to reduce alarm fatigue and enhance patient safety.
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| Keywords: Alarm Fatigue, Clinical Alarms, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Nursing |
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Full-Text [PDF 279 kb]
(141 Downloads)
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Type of Study: Critical Care Nursing |
Subject:
nursing
Received: 2024/06/16 | Accepted: 2024/08/19 | Published: 2025/03/30
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