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Nurses' Perspectives on Clinical Alarms
Linda Honan1, Marjorie Funk2, Michaela Maynard2
1Linda Honan is an associate professor, Michaela Maynard is a graduate of the master's of science in nursing program, and Deborah Fahs is an assistant professor, Yale University School of Nursing, West Haven, Connecticut. Marjorie Funk is a professor, Yale University School of Nursing, and a member of the board of directors, Healthcare Technology Foundation (http://www.thehtf.org). J. Tobey Clark is the director, instrumentation and technical services, and a lecturer, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, and president of the Healthcare Technology Foundation. Yadin David is principal, Biomedical Engineering Consultants, LLC, Houston, Texas, and president emeritus, the Healthcare Technology Foundation. linda.pellico@yale.edu.
Background:
Alarm hazards are a critical issue in patient safety. Of all health care providers, nurses are the ones most directly affected by the multitude of clinical alarms.
Objectives:
To qualitatively explore nurses' experiences with clinical alarms.
Methods:
The Krippendorff method for content analysis was used to analyze comments provided by 406 nurses in a national survey on perceptions of clinical alarms.
Results:
Six interrelated themes emerged: dissonance and desensitization; pollution, panic, and pathology; calling for accountability; calling for authority of nurses; clinical alarm management is crucial but not a panacea; and hope for the future.
Conclusions:
Nurses are concerned about the impact of alarm fatigue on nurses and patients, recognize the importance of nurses' role in reducing noise pollution, and offer valuable insight into strategies that can mitigate alarm hazards.
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