¶ … Alarm Fatigue Evaluation Plan: Alarm Fatigue

In order to determine the effectiveness of the plan to combat alarm fatigue, which involves changing the sounds that the alarms use in order to make them more audible and less likely to be "tuned out" by medical personnel, specific criteria are needed. These criteria will be used in order to decide whether the plan is effective, or whether it is necessary to consider and address other changes that will be used in place of the new plan or in addition to it. As nurses and other medical personnel work through the new plan and get used to the new alarms, there may be changes that have to be made. The goal of the objective criteria and examination of them is to determine whether these changes are needed and if they are changes that can be implemented. These objective criteria are:

Nurses and other medical personnel respond to alarms more frequently than they did in the past.

Nurses and other medical personnel respond to alarms faster than they did under the older alarm system.

Patients are receiving the care that they need in a more timely and appropriate manner than they were in the past.

Nurses and other medical personnel find that the alarms are easier to hear and/or easier to distinguish from other noises around them.

The different noises the alarms provide make it easier...

This is done in order to allow the surveys to be completely anonymous, and to help those who fill them out feel comfortable enough to be completely honest about whether they feel the criteria are being met properly and completely, or whether there are changes that need to be…