Nurses' responses to monitor alarms during intra-hospital transports: an observational study

Abstract

Abstract Background When patients in intensive care units have to be transported to another location in the same hospital due to lack of medical staff or the complexity of the patient's condition, nurses must deal with monitoring alarms quickly. Objective To explore the responses of nurses to monitor alarms during intra-hospital transports of patients, observing nurses for the presence of alarm fatigue during the transport, and to determine whether their responses are related to their cognitive resources, obstacles to alarm management, training, or other factors. Methods An observational descriptive study.An investigator using participatory observation.The object of study are nurses in the Intensive Care Unit,a semi-structured observation form was used to record the data collected. Finally the nurse answered the questionnaire. Results Forty-two alarms were activated for 40 patients during the transport process, including two patients who had two alarms. Six (14.3%) alarms were not dealt with, 36 (85.7%) were dealt with, and 11 (26.2%) were corrected after treatment. The nurses had alarm fatigue; their score on Part 1 of a clinical alarm questionnaire and their total score on the Clinical Alarm Fatigue Questionnaire showed a significant negative correlation between their training and alarm fatigue. Conclusion Nurses lack information about individual settings for transport monitors. Improving the cognitive capabilities of nurses to respond to clinical alarms can reduce alarm fatigue during intra-hospital transports.