Alarm Fatigue and Nursing Ethics

Alarm Fatigue

Ethics Committee Proposal: Alarm Fatigue

Alarm fatigue is a serious issue that is faced by nurses and other medical staff on a daily basis. It is not just a concern for the staff, but also for the patients. There is a possibility that they will not get the proper care in a timely manner if the medical personnel are not responding quickly and accurately to the alarms that go off in patient rooms (Blum & Tremper, 2010). If that is the case, then the issue also becomes one of ethics, as it impacts whether patients are being mistreated or whether their outcomes may be different (McNeer, et al., 2007). That has to be carefully addressed, and solutions need to be found, in order to make sure alarm fatigue does not result in patient injury or death due to missed cues by medical personnel.

Objectives

There are two proposal objectives discussed here. Both of these are vital to the removal of alarm fatigue from the medical equation and the benefit to patients who are trusting these personnel for their care. These objectives are:

1. To make adjustments to the sounds of alarms in order to eliminate the alarm fatigue felt by medical personnel within one year.

2. To ensure patient safety by using proper reporting techniques to reduce the amount of alarm fatigue that is seen and that can lead to harmful behaviors within six months.

While these objectives will not be particularly easy to meet, they can and should be met because of the extreme value they have to both patients and medical personnel.

Ethical Principles

There are various ethical principles to consider when it comes to alarm fatigue. The most important one here is fidelity. For the people who work in the medical field and take care of others, making sure they focus on the proper care of those people for as long as it takes and to the best of their ability is important. Unfortunately, alarm fatigue can make it very difficult to treat patients with the care they really deserve, because the alarms set off when they need something can go unnoticed (Bustamante, Bliss, & Anderson, 2007). These alarms are "tuned out" by the medical staff because there are many false alarms that occur every day (Blum & Tremper, 2010). Running to check them every time would become highly stressful for the staff, and could actually lead to more problems in caring for patients who actually have legitimate alarms occurring (McNeer, et al., 2007).

Rational for Principle Selection

The ethical principle of fidelity was chosen because of the value of caring for others and the commitment that medical personnel make when they are hired. Making a commitment to caring for others is a huge responsibility, and it is not one that should be taken lightly. Unfortunately, there are problems with caring for people when alarm fatigue sets in (Blum & Tremper, 2010). The lack of ability to notice the alarms and handle them when they are important can put patients at risk (Blum & Tremper, 2010). While most patients are not harmed by the staff's alarm fatigue, there have been cases of serious harm and even death reported due to medical staff tuning out alarms and not responding to them in a timely manner (Bustamante, Bliss, & Anderson, 2007).

Resolution Implementation

In truly implementing a solution to the problem, there are issues that must be addressed. These include a proper time limit for getting something done, and ways in which alarm fatigue can truly be reduced. One of the best options is to change the way the alarms sound, so that they are not so similar to one another and so easily ignored (Blum & Tremper, 2010). Additionally, alarms with different sounds can be beneficial because it is possible to distinguish one from another much more easily. That can help medical personnel determine what is truly an emergency and what is less urgent, which can lead to better patient care and faster response times (McNeer, et al., 2007). Another way to help avoid alarm fatigue is through the use of a more centralized system for alarms (McNeer, et al., 2007). If the alarms are constantly going off in patient rooms it can be very fatiguing for the medical personnel, but a centralized location where the alarms can go off and personnel can be dispatched from is a much better choice for reducing fatigue and stress (Blum & Tremper, 2010).