The Relationship Between Alarm Fatigue with Clinical Competence in Neonatal Intensive Care Nurses in Kermanshah-Iran, 2022.

Abstract

Abstract Background: Inadequate qualifications of nurses are one of the predisposing factors for the occurrence of clinical errors in care units, which can lead to doubling the amount of care. On the other hand, false alarms reduce the response time and nurses' trust in alarms, which can cause them to suffer from alarm fatigue in the long run. This study was conducted with the aim of determining the relationship between alarm fatigue andclinical competence in neonatal intensive care nurses in Iran, Kermanshah, 2022. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 140 neonatal intensive care nurses were selected by the census method. The data collection tools included a demographic questionnaire, the “Nurse Competence Scale” and an “Alarm fatigue questionnaire”. Data were analysed using descriptive and analytical statistics. Results: The average alarm fatigue score was 21.61 ± 7.45 and above average. Most of the researched nurses, that means 75% of them, had very good clinical qualifications. The average score of clinical competence in nurses was 174.76± 26.74 and was evaluated at a very good level. The clinical competence of nurses in the subscale of managing situations, with an average of 83.72 ±14.53, is the highest, and in the subscale of ensuring quality, with an average of 75.31± 18.26, the lowest average score has been obtained among other subscales of clinical competence. This study shows the relationship between alarm fatigue and clinical competence in the teaching–coaching subscale among nurses in the neonatal intensive care unit of Kermanshah city, so that with the increase in alarm fatigue in nurses, the clinical competence in the teaching–coaching subscale decreases (p= 0/019). Conclusion: Clinicalcompetence was scored at a very good level, and alarm fatigue was above average. This study shows the relationship between alarm fatigue and clinical competence in the teaching–coaching subscale among NICU nurses. The findings showed that the clinical competence of nurses obtained the highest average score in the managing situations subscale and the lowest average score in the ensuring quality subscale. It is appropriate to take measures to strengthen the aspect of ensuring quality, which is mostly evidence-based nursing. Additionally, according to the needs of nurses in hospitals, more planning should be done to improve education. It is necessary to adopt solutions according to standard guidelines to reduce alarms and to monitor the physiological monitoring systems in hospitals because not paying attention to these issues leads to the fatigue of the alarms of nurses, which itself has many consequences for nurses and patients.