Abstract
Background: Intensive care units have copious amounts of alarms and sounds that can lead to patient distress and alarm fatigue for staff, resulting in delayed responses to an alarm in a patient’s room. With so many alerts in the intensive care unit (ICU), staff can become desensitized to the noises, and patient care is affected, increasing the likelihood of adverse events (Gorisek et al., 2021; Leigher et al., 2020). The project examines the effects of changes in patient care to reduce the number of alarm alerts to impact the potential of alarm fatigue in nurses working in a busy ICU. With the large number of alarm alerts in the ICU, staff tend to become fatigued to the alarms and do not respond as quickly to alerts, creating potential for patient harm (Bosma & Christopher, 2023; Suba et al., 2019). Response time to alarms can decrease with the implementation of strategies that can prove to have positive impacts on patient care.
Method: The quality improvement project was a quantitative study in a forty-four-bed unit in upstate New York. The research to make the changes was based on reviewing evidence-based research and policies at the facilities (Asadi et al., 2022; Leigher et al., 2020). Changes in procedure were made, such as daily electrode changes, alarm limit assessment with hourly checks, and setting alarm parameters upon admission. The criteria evaluated were staff response times, alarm types, and the frequency of the alarms. The alerts were evaluated for approximately fifty hours per week for eight weeks, and the hours varied throughout a twenty-four-hour period in the intensive care unit.
Results: The alarm alerts were assessed over eight weeks, fifty hours each week, throughout the 44-bed units. Data was tracked and analyzed on an Excel spreadsheet. The alarm alerts did not decrease throughout the project and buy-in was not created by the staff.
Conclusions: Unfortunately, the changes did not reflect the expected decrease in alarm alerts. However, lessons were learned about creating buy-in and the stress the facility was experiencing at the time. Procedure changes can be successful with a longer period of change and creating buy-in.
Notes
References:
Asadi, N., Salmani, F., Asgari, N., & Salmani, M. (2022). Alarm fatigue and moral distress in icu nurses in covid-19 pandemic. BMC Nursing, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-022-00909-y
Bosma, S., & Christopher, R. (2023). Implementing a unit-based alarm management bundle for critical care nurses. Critical Care Nurse, 43(2), 36–45. https://doi.org/10.4037/ccn2023418
Gorisek, R., Mayer, C., Hicks, W., & Barnes, J. (2021). An evidence-based initiative to reduce alarm fatigue in a burn intensive care unit. Critical Care Nurse, 41(4), 29–37. https://doi.org/10.4037/ccn2021166
Leigher, D., Kemppainen, P., & Neyens, D. M. (2020). Skin preparation and electrode replacement to reduce alarm fatigue in a community hospital intensive care unit. American Journal of Critical Care, 29(5), 390–395. https://doi.org/10.4037/ajcc2020120
Suba, S., Sandoval, C., Zègre-Hemsey, J. K., Hu, X., & Pelter, M. M. (2019). Contribution of electrocardiographic accelerated ventricular rhythm alarms to alarm fatigue. American Journal of Critical Care, 28(3), 222–229. https://doi.org/10.4037/ajcc2019314
Sigma Membership
Iota Delta at-Large, Omega Gamma
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Quality Improvement
Research Approach
Translational Research/Evidence-based Practice
Keywords:
Acute Care, Alarm Fatigue, Intensive Care Unit, ICU
Recommended Citation
Hall, Dawn-Marie Jackson, "Why All The Noise? How to Reduce Alarm Fatigue in the Intensive Care Unit" (2025). International Nursing Research Congress (INRC). 263.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/inrc/2025/presentations_2025/263
Conference Name
36th International Nursing Research Congress
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Seattle, Washington, USA
Conference Year
2025
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Why All The Noise? How to Reduce Alarm Fatigue in the Intensive Care Unit
Seattle, Washington, USA
Background: Intensive care units have copious amounts of alarms and sounds that can lead to patient distress and alarm fatigue for staff, resulting in delayed responses to an alarm in a patient’s room. With so many alerts in the intensive care unit (ICU), staff can become desensitized to the noises, and patient care is affected, increasing the likelihood of adverse events (Gorisek et al., 2021; Leigher et al., 2020). The project examines the effects of changes in patient care to reduce the number of alarm alerts to impact the potential of alarm fatigue in nurses working in a busy ICU. With the large number of alarm alerts in the ICU, staff tend to become fatigued to the alarms and do not respond as quickly to alerts, creating potential for patient harm (Bosma & Christopher, 2023; Suba et al., 2019). Response time to alarms can decrease with the implementation of strategies that can prove to have positive impacts on patient care.
Method: The quality improvement project was a quantitative study in a forty-four-bed unit in upstate New York. The research to make the changes was based on reviewing evidence-based research and policies at the facilities (Asadi et al., 2022; Leigher et al., 2020). Changes in procedure were made, such as daily electrode changes, alarm limit assessment with hourly checks, and setting alarm parameters upon admission. The criteria evaluated were staff response times, alarm types, and the frequency of the alarms. The alerts were evaluated for approximately fifty hours per week for eight weeks, and the hours varied throughout a twenty-four-hour period in the intensive care unit.
Results: The alarm alerts were assessed over eight weeks, fifty hours each week, throughout the 44-bed units. Data was tracked and analyzed on an Excel spreadsheet. The alarm alerts did not decrease throughout the project and buy-in was not created by the staff.
Conclusions: Unfortunately, the changes did not reflect the expected decrease in alarm alerts. However, lessons were learned about creating buy-in and the stress the facility was experiencing at the time. Procedure changes can be successful with a longer period of change and creating buy-in.
Description
This activity will help learners better understand alarm fatigue and its effects on staff and patients. It also includes ideas for reducing alarm alerts and improving patient care.