J Korean Biol Nurs Sci.  2018 Nov;20(4):228-235. 10.7586/jkbns.2018.20.4.228.

Evaluation of Clinical Alarms and Alarm Management in Intensive Care Units

• Jeong YJ
• Kim H

• KMID: 2434932
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.7586/jkbns.2018.20.4.228

Abstract

PURPOSE
This study aimed to investigate the clinical alarm occurrence and management of nurses toward clinical alarms in the intensive care unit (ICU).
METHODS
This observational study was conducted with 40 patients and nurses cases in two ICUs of a university hospital. This study divided 24 hours into the unit of an hour and conducted two times of direct observation per unit hour for 48 hours targeting the medical devices applied to 40 patients. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 23.
RESULTS
On average, 3.8 units of medical devices were applied for each patient and the ranges of alarm settings were wide. During 48 hours, 184 cases of clinical alarm were occurred by four types of medical devices including physiological monitors, mechanical ventilators, infusion pumps, and continuous renal replacement therapy. Among them, false alarm was 110 cases (59.8%). As for the alarm management by ICU nurses, two-minute alarm mute took up most at 38.0% (70 cases), and no response was second most at 32.6% (60 cases). When valid alarm sounded, nurses showed no response at 43.2%.
CONCLUSION
The findings suggest that a standard protocol for alarm management should be developed for Korean ICU settings. Based on the protocol, continuous training and education should be provided to nurses for appropriate alarm management.

Keyword

Clinical alarm; Intensive care unit; Medical device; Observation

MeSH Terms

Clinical Alarms*
Critical Care*
Education
Humans
Infusion Pumps
Intensive Care Units*
Observational Study
Renal Replacement Therapy
Ventilators, Mechanical