Fewer but better auditory alarms will improve patient safety

Edworthy, Judy; Hellier, Elizabeth

doi:10.1136/qshc.2004.013052

Cited by 97 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…These results are particularly distressing because it has been demonstrated that if a person experiences a system to be 10% reliable, then the person will respond 10% of the time. 34,38,39 The dire consequences of the number of nuisance alarms has been demonstrated when the alarm limits are extended, disabled, or not returned to their original settings, resulting in patients dying. 4,40,41 The most signifi cant change was in number of the bigeminy and/or couplets alarm signals, which accounted for the vast majority of the alarm signals (ie, 25 of the 28.5 alarm signals per day per monitored bed).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stop the Noise: A Quality Improvement Project to Decrease Electrocardiographic Nuisance Alarms

Sendelbach

Wahl

Anthony

et al. 2015

Critical Care Nurse

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BACKGROUND As many as 99% of alarm signals may not need any intervention and can result in patients’ deaths. Alarm management is now a Joint Commission National Patient Safety Goal. OBJECTIVES To reduce the number of nuisance electrocardiographic alarm signals in adult patients on the medical cardiovascular care unit. METHODS A quality improvement process was used that included eliminating duplicative alarms, customizing alarms, changing electrocardiography electrodes daily, standardizing skin preparation, and using disposable electrocardiography leads. RESULTS In the cardiovascular care unit, the mean number of electrocardiographic alarm signals per day decreased from 28.5 (baseline) to 3.29, an 88.5% reduction. CONCLUSION Use of a bundled approach to managing alarm signals decreased the mean number of alarm signals in a cardiovascular care unit. (Critical Care Nurse. 2015;35[4]:15–23)

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stop the Noise: A Quality Improvement Project to Decrease Electrocardiographic Nuisance Alarms

Sendelbach

Wahl

Anthony

et al. 2015

Critical Care Nurse

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“…Remaining sound design is challenging, because not much is known about infants' auditory capacities and comfort and also knowledge about proper auditory warning design for the medical setting is lacking, according to Edworthy and Hellier (2005). ICU alarm design has classically been done by thinking of beeps and tunes.…”

Section: Sound Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

A quiet NICU for improved infants’ health, development and well-being: a systems approach to reducing noise and auditory alarms

Freudenthal

Stuijvenberg²,

Goudoever

2012

Cogn Tech Work

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“…Often, in an effort to reduce the number of alarms and seek relief from alarm fatigue, clinicians attempt to re-adjust settings on the monitor, or turn off certain alarms altogether [11]. Alarm adjustements may impede the ability to detect early signs of deterioration resulting in decreased quality of care [5], [12], [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is general agreement that this is an important safety issue. A reduction in the number of false alarms has been shown to improve patient safety [11], and various efforts have been made to reduce alarm fatigue by reducing false alarms. These efforts typically focus on improving workflow, establishing appropriate patient-customized thresholds, or identifying situations where alarms are not clinically relevant and shutting them off [14], [16], [17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clinician-in-the-Loop Annotation of ICU Bedside Alarm Data

Roederer

Dimartino

Gutsche

et al. 2016

2016 IEEE First International Conference on Connected Health: Applications, Systems and Engineering Technologies (CHASE)

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In this work, we describe the state of clinical monitoring in the intensive care unit and operating room, where patients are at their most fragile and thus monitoring is most heightened. We describe how large amounts of data generated by monitoring patients' physiologic signals, along with the ubiquitous aspecific threshold alarms in use today, cause dangerous alarm fatigue for medical caregivers. In order to build more specific, more useful alarms, we gathered a novel data set that would allow us to assess the number, types, and utility of alarms currently in use in the intensive care unit. To do this, we developed a system to collect physiologic monitor data, alarms, and annotations of those alarms provided electronically by clinicians. We describe the collection process for this novel data set and provide a preliminary description of the data. Abstract-In this work, we describe the state of clinical monitoring in the intensive care unit and operating room, where patients are at their most fragile and thus monitoring is most heightened. We describe how large amounts of data generated by monitoring patients' physiologic signals, along with the ubiquitous aspecific threshold alarms in use today, cause dangerous alarm fatigue for medical caregivers. In order to build more specific, more useful alarms, we gathered a novel data set that would allow us to assess the number, types, and utility of alarms currently in use in the intensive care unit. To do this, we developed a system to collect physiologic monitor data, alarms, and annotations of those alarms provided electronically by clinicians. We describe the collection process for this novel data set and provide a preliminary description of the data.

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Fewer but better auditory alarms will improve patient safety

Cited by 97 publications

References 26 publications

Stop the Noise: A Quality Improvement Project to Decrease Electrocardiographic Nuisance Alarms

Stop the Noise: A Quality Improvement Project to Decrease Electrocardiographic Nuisance Alarms

A quiet NICU for improved infants’ health, development and well-being: a systems approach to reducing noise and auditory alarms

Clinician-in-the-Loop Annotation of ICU Bedside Alarm Data

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