surgery solutions masthead

A proven safety risk
Alarm fatigue

More than just a nuisance


The proliferation of alarms generated by monitoring systems is a growing concern for anyone committed to patient safety. Exposure to excess alarms in care settings, especially non-actionable alarms, can result in desensitization among the clinicians that they are intended to alert, a syndrome called alarm fatigue.

Alarm fatigue can lead to reflexive silencing of alarms, breaking monitoring protocols and missing true positive alarms—placing a burden on caregivers and jeopardizing their ability to care for patients.

When an alarm goes off you want to make sure it is clinically relevant.”

Ineke van de Pol

ICU nurse practitioner, St. Antonius Hospital, The Netherlands

vascular masthead

An insider’s view of
alarm overload

For short-staffed nurses, false alarms are more than annoyances. Most nurses say they are affected by alarm fatigue, 1 which can cause stress, depression, reduced productivity and burnout. This video attempts to illustrate what it’s like to care for a patient in today’s alarm-filled environment.

insider view of alarm overload youtube video thumbnail

Watch
and listen

Sound icon

Turn on your sound to get the full experience

urology masthead

A quick survey

Taking alarm management from concept to reality

 

Discover where you stand when it comes to alarm management. We invite you to participate in this survey taking alarm management from concept to reality.*

 

* All data will remain anonymous.

Excessive false alerts
impact a hospital on many levels

Clinical icon

Clinical

Missing actionable alarms jeopardizes patient safety.

Financial icon

Financial

Patient harm as a result of over-alarming can have costly repercussions from transfers to the ICU, extended length of stay and litigation.

Technical icon

Technical

The lack of alarm customization for individual patients can create excessive nuisance alarms.

Operational icon

Operational

About 10% of nursing time is lost responding to non-actionable alarms.

Growth icon

Growth

 

A stressful, noise-filled work environment can contribute to staff burnout.

Regulatory icon

Regulatory

Non-compliance can be costly, as health care moves from volume to value-based care models.

pain management masthead

5 key facts about alarm fatigue


When you consider that patients, staff and families may be exposed to up to 700 alarms a day, 2 it’s no surprise that alarm fatigue is a serious problem. Yet few hospitals have comprehensive programs to manage “alarm pollution” and there is no clear evidence-based practice because no two patients or units are exactly the same. Understanding the scope of the problem is an important first step. Start by educating yourself and your colleagues with these facts from recent research.

Tell us a little about yourself and download the 2-pager.

Contact information

* This field is mandatory

*

Contact details

*
*
*

Company details

*
*
*

Alarm management 101

Alarms are a good thing… aren’t they? Raise your team’s awareness about alarm fatigue with this module from a Philips alarm management consultant.

This downloadable and video drills down into the root causes and impact of the problem and shares research on how it is currently perceived.

Alarm Management 101 register thumbnail

Register to access the free online module.

Contact information

* This field is mandatory

*

Contact details

*
*
*

Company details

*
*
*

pain management masthead

Subscribe

Become the alarm advocate in your unit. Now!

 

Tell us a little about yourself and receive 3 emails with material that can help you raise awareness about alarm management at your hospital.

*

Contact information

* This field is mandatory

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

By specifying your reason for contact we will be able to provide you with a better service.

We work with partners and distributors who may contact you about this Philips product on our behalf.

*
*

Družba Philips ceni in spoštuje zasebnost svojih strank. Svoje dovoljenje lahko kadarkoli prekličete. Za več informacij preberite Pravilnik o zasebnosti družbe Philips.

The price for patients thumbnail

The price for patients

Find out why you should protect your patients

What drives alarm fatigue?

Discover new facts and approaches for making effective change

What drives alarm fatigue thumbnail
Practical guidance thumbnail

Get some practical guidance

Success stories, exclusive case studies and proven solutions

Footnotes:

 

[1] Juniper Consulting. Junicon Web Survey, 2012.

[2] Cvach, M., "Monitor Alarm Fatigue: An Integrative Review", Biomedical Instrumentation & Technology, July/August 2012, pp. 268-277.

You are about to visit a Philips global content page

Continue

You are about to visit a Philips global content page

Continue

Our site can best be viewed with the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome or Firefox.

Vstopate na slovensko spletno stran Philips Healthcare
Please select the checkbox

Spletna stran je namenjena samo osebam, ki medicinske pripomočke uporabljajo kot profesionalci, vključno z osebami, ki opravljajo poklice v zdravstveni dejavnosti, osebami, ki delujejo za zdravstvene subjekte, ali subjekti, ki trgujejo z medicinskimi pripomočki kot profesionalci. Spletno mesto nikakor ni namenjeno potrošnikom ali splošni javnosti.

Ali ste oseba, ki izpolnjuje zgornja merila?

Da Ne