The effect of educational interventions in managing nurses' alarm fatigue: An integrative review

Alarm fatigue is becoming more widely acknowledged as a serious safety concern in modern clinical practice. Nurses are not always proficient in the alarms' functions and capabilities, and they do not undertake training regularly. Educating nurses on alarms maintains their knowledge and abilities in complex clinical settings. Some education has been undertaken to improve clinical alarm response, but the evidence for evaluating the effectiveness of nurse education interventions is limited.

To evaluate the effects of educational interventions for reducing alarm fatigue in nurses, including the reduction of excessive, false and non-actionable alarms, which are major factors causing alarm fatigue in nurses.

PUBMED, EMBASE, CINAHL, SCOPUS and OVID databases were systematically searched from 2016 to 2021.

Integrative Review.

An integrative review of literature was performed using the PRISMA checklist. Critical appraisal was done using Joanna Briggs Institute level of evidence.

Thirteen studies met the inclusion criteria. The results of most studies showed that educational intervention was beneficial for reducing the total number of alarms and false alarms. Furthermore, nurses' perceptions and knowledge improved, but the reduction in nurses' alarm fatigue is uncertain. A positive effect in alarm management practices was identified after the educational intervention.

Educational intervention may be the way to manage nurses' alarm fatigue. The use of medical devices in hospitals is increasing exponentially, and for this reason, alarms are inevitable. The introduction of effective and continuous education and training programs for nurses concerning clinical alarm management as well as raising nurses' awareness of the occurrence of alarm fatigue is vital.