Alarm Fatigue and its Effects on Quality Patient Care Essay example --

Hospitalized patients are often hooked up to monitoring devices such as heart monitors, which monitor the electric activity of the heart, or connected to a physiological monitor so their vital signs are constantly being measured. These monitors are intended to continuously assess the patients’ status, and alarm if the patients’ status drops below what is considered normal. The increased use of monitoring devices has created a new phenomenon known as alarm fatigue. According to the ECRI institute (2011), â€Å"alarm fatigue occurs when the sheer number of alarms overwhelms staff and they become desensitized to the alarms resulting in delayed alarm response and missed alarms-often resulting in patient harm or even death.† Alarm fatigue has become a major problem within the nursing community and has already had a negative impact on patient safety. Due to the adverse effects alarm fatigue is having on quality patient care, there has been a call to action to find s olutions that may deter alarm fatigue. Evidence-based practices involving quality improvement initiatives have been put into effect. The problem has also gained national attention from such institutions as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and The Joint Commission (TJC). Relevance to the Profession of Nursing According to the Registered Nurse (RN) Scope of Practice Position Statement, â€Å"the RN is responsible for providing safe, compassionate, and comprehensive nursing care to patients and their families with complex healthcare needs† (Texas Board of Nursing, 2011). Nurses often care for five to six patients at one time; therefore, in order to provide the best quality care, patients are often connected to monitoring devices such as, physiological monitors, venti... ...ientSafetyOrganization/Documents/PSO_Monthly_ Brief/ECRI%20Institute%20PSO%20Monthly%20Brief%20v1.pdf Graham, C. K., Cvach, M. (2010). Monitor alarm fatigue: Standardizing use of physiological monitors and decreasing nuisance alarms. American Journal of Critical Care, 19, 28-34. doi: 10.4037/ajcc201651 The American Nurses Association. (2010). Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive statements. Retrieved from http://www.nursingworld.org/ MainMenuCategories/EthicsStandards/CodeofEthicsforNurses/Code-of- ethics.pdf The Texas Board of Nursing. (2011). The Registered Nurse Scope of Practice. Retrieved April 2, 2012 from http://www.bon.texas.gov/practice/pdfs/ Position15-27.pdf Wallis, L. (2010). Alarm Fatigue Linked to Patients Death. American Journal of Nursing, 110 (7), 16. doi: 10.1097/01.NAJ.0000383917.98063.bd