Alarm fatigue is among the key distractions in nursing and healthcare that can contribute to suboptimal patient care quality and poor outcomes. One ethical issue that may arise as a result of alarm desensitization in care providers, especially those in critical care settings, is the provider’s inability to single out the accurate alerts among the false ones. As a result, the patient with the emerging poor outcome may receive treatment with delay, which runs counter to the ethical principle of beneficence. Medical alerting systems are constructed in a way to maximize the number of alarms, thus increasing the patient’s chances of getting prompt assistance. Therefore, most cases are represented by nuisance alerts requiring no immediate intervention (Oliveira et al., 2018). Being busy with processing multiple false alerts, the provider may fail to react to the poor outcome promptly. The result is the inability to offer the necessary help as soon as possible and minimize the patient’s suffering.
Evidence from scholarly studies reveals that distractions, including alarm fatigue, affect patient safety depending on technology-related factors and prevent effective teamwork. In their study conducted in 2013, Santos and colleagues found that mechanical ventilator alarms with a duration not exceeding four seconds did not create alarm fatigue and the resulting safety threats (Oliveira et al., 2018). In that case, distractions were relatively harmless even though the alarms were frequent, but longer alarms could maximize desensitization, thus causing delayed responses to unexpected outcomes (Oliveira et al., 2018). From operating room research, it is known that distractions create multiple safety barriers. These include less frequent client safety checks, extended procedure duration, hindrances to prompt and rational intra-team collaboration, and infection risks (Mcmullan et al., 2021). With that in mind, the minimization of unnecessary distractions and the optimization of alerting systems to prevent alert fatigue are essential for safe and patient-centered healthcare.
References
Mcmullan, R. D., Urwin, R., Gates, P., Sunderland, N., & Westbrook, J. I. (2021). Are operating room distractions, interruptions and disruptions associated with performance and patient safety? A systematic review and meta-analysis.International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 33(2), 1-10.
Oliveira, A. E. C. D., Machado, A. B., Santos, E. D. D., & Almeida, É. B. D. (2018). Alarm fatigue and the implications for patient safety. Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem, 71, 3035-3040.