Determining the Impact of an Alarm Management Program on Alarm Fatigue among ICU and Telemetry RNs: An Evidence Based Research Project

This evidence-based research project provides an appraisal of current research on how an alarm management program impacts alarm fatigue among registered nurses (RNs) in both intensive care units (ICUs) and telemetry units. Alarm fatigue is a major problem recognized by both the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) and the Joint Commission. RNs are the primary caretakers of critically ill patients in ICUs and telemetry units and therefore are at the greatest risk for alarm fatigue. The researchers performed an evidence synthesis to determine the impact of an alarm management program on alarm fatigue among ICU and telemetry RNs. A literature search was conducted using scientific databases such as PubMed, CINAHL, Trip, Cochrane Review, and Google Scholar. Our search strategy included the following terms: adult registered nurse, inpatient registered nurse, ICU registered nurses, RNs, Nurse Practitioners, alarm fatigue, alarm management strategy, education, cardiac monitor alarm, alarm strategies, alarm bundle, telemetry alarm, and cardiac monitor. Any studies involving the pediatric population, pulse oximeter alarms, and ventilator alarms were excluded. Due to the lack of available randomized control trials and cohort studies, the authors included two quality improvement (QI) projects. Finally, six studies were taken into consideration for review. The authors appraised each of the six articles using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme Checklist (CASP) Tool. This tool allowed the authors to synthesize information based on the outcomes and determine the level of the evidence of each article in order to make evidence-based practice recommendations on implementing alarm management programs. Conclusion: Despite extensive literature highlighting the astronomical prevalence of alarm fatigue in RNs, there was a lack of current high-quality data related to implementing alarm management programs. Therefore, more research is needed to support the utilization of alarm management programs in ICUs and telemetry units to improve alarm fatigue among RNs.