Keith J Ruskin1, Dirk Hueske-Kraus. 1. 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.
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.
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.
Authors: Daniel T Linnen; Gabriel J Escobar; Xiao Hu; Elizabeth Scruth; Vincent Liu; Caroline Stephens Journal: J Hosp Med Date: 2019-03 Impact factor: 2.960
Authors: Juan D Chaparro; Jonathan M Beus; Adam C Dziorny; Philip A Hagedorn; Sean Hernandez; Swaminathan Kandaswamy; Eric S Kirkendall; Allison B McCoy; Naveen Muthu; Evan W Orenstein Journal: Appl Clin Inform Date: 2022-05-25 Impact factor: 2.762
Authors: Karolina Brook; Mark J Facchin; Albert A Kalustian; R Mauricio Gonzalez; Keegan L McDonnell; Donald H Lambert Journal: J Clin Monit Comput Date: 2021-12-03 Impact factor: 1.977
Authors: Marilyn Hravnak; Tiffany Pellathy; Lujie Chen; Artur Dubrawski; Anthony Wertz; Gilles Clermont; Michael R Pinsky Journal: J Electrocardiol Date: 2018-07-29 Impact factor: 1.438
Authors: Luis E Tollinche; Richard Shi; Margaret Hannum; Patrick McCormick; Alisa Thorne; Kay See Tan; Gloria Yang; Meghana Mehta; Cindy Yeoh Journal: Comput Methods Programs Biomed Date: 2020-02-28 Impact factor: 5.428
Authors: Steven N Baldassano; Shawniqua Williams Roberson; Ramani Balu; Brittany Scheid; John M Bernabei; Jay Pathmanathan; Brian Oommen; Damien Leri; Javier Echauz; Michael Gelfand; Paulomi Kadakia Bhalla; Chloe E Hill; Amanda Christini; Joost B Wagenaar; Brian Litt Journal: IEEE J Biomed Health Inform Date: 2020-01-13 Impact factor: 5.772