Critical care nurses and their clinical reasoning for customizing monitor alarms: a mixed-method study
Catégorie d'article: Original article
Publié en ligne: 16 déc. 2024
Pages: 457 - 467
Reçu: 11 janv. 2024
Accepté: 25 mars 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/fon-2024-0050
Mots clés
© 2024 Mohamad Al Nakhal et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Objective
To explore the clinical rationale of critical care nurses for personalizing monitor alarms. One of the most crucial jobs assigned to critical care nurses is monitoring patients’ physiological indicators and carrying out the necessary associated interventions. Successful use of equipment in the nursing practice environment will be improved by a thorough understanding of the nurse’s approach to alarm configuration.
Methods
A mixed-method design integrating quantitative and qualitative components was used. The sample of this study recruited a convenience sample of 60 nurses who have worked in critical care areas. This study took place at Lebanese American University Medical Center Rizk Hospital, utilizing a semi-structured interview with participants.
Results
The study demonstrated the high incidence of nuisance alarms and the desensitization of critical care nurses to vital ones. According to the nurses, frequent false alarms and a shortage of staff are the 2 main causes of alarm desensitization. Age was significantly associated with the perception of Smart alarms, according to the data (
Conclusions
According to this study, nurses believe that alarms are valuable. However, a qualitative analysis of the experiences revealed that customization has been severely limited since the healthcare team depends on nurses to complete these tasks independently. Additionally, a staffing shortage and lack of technical training at the start of placement have also hindered customization.