Alarm Fatigue and How to Reduce It

The selected research topic is alarm fatigue and how to reduce it. Alarm fatigue can be defined as sensory overload that occurs when healthcare professionals are exposed to the constant noise of medical device alarms, leading to desensitization that results in delayed response or missed alarms altogether (Chromik et al., 2022). This assignment details why this topic was selected. It begins with a discussion of the difference between primary and secondary research to lay the foundation for the research procedures that will be carried out.

Difference between Primary and Secondary Research

According to Jugenheimer et al. (2014), primary research could be conceptualized as research that involves collecting original data first hand from participants to address a specific research problem. It is important to note that in primary research, the researcher gathers the information themselves rather than relying on information available in existing publications and databases. The main aim of primary research is to produce new knowledge by providing answers to questions that have not been answered before. The most common types of primary research approaches include surveys, observation, interviews, and focus group discussions (Jugenheimer et al., 2014).

Secondary research is research that involves collecting and synthesizing data published in existing publications, databases, and other information sources...

In secondary research, the researcher analyzes data collected by other researchers. Common sources of data for secondary research are inclusive of academic journals, published articles and books, reports and databases of government agencies, educational institutions, and commercial sources of information, i.e. newspapers. The proposed project will make use of secondary research.

Justification of Selected Topic

Alarm fatigue has been recognized as a critical safety issue in healthcare organizations. Between 2005 and 2008, reporting systems at the United States Food...

…for Healthcare Research & Quality - AHRQ, 2019) found that failure to appropriately respond to alerts from physiological monitoring systems accounted for more than 200 deaths in US facilities over a five-year period.

Due to technological advancements, the number of sensors or devices monitoring patients vital signs is expected to increase. This is likely to be matched with an increase in the number of alarms and a subsequent increase in the percentage of false alarms, both of which would further increase alarm fatigue among medical staff. Lewandowska et al. (2020) express that 40 years ago, there were less than six alarms per patient in an intensive care unit (ICU) setting. Today, a single patient reports more than 40 alarms daily (Lewandowska et al., 2020). Such statistics make the area of false alarms a highly viable area of study. The insights obtained from this project will be beneficial in…