Biomedical instrumentation & technology / Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation
-
Biomed Instrum Technol · Jan 2011
Physiologic monitoring alarm load on medical/surgical floors of a community hospital.
It has been known to the public that high frequency of false and/or unnecessary alarms from patient monitoring devices causes "alarm fatigue" in critical care. But little is known about the impact to care on the less acute patients located outside the critical care areas, such as the traditional medical/surgical (med/surg) floor. ⋯ 1) Standard critical care alarm limits appear be too sensitive for subacute care areas of the hospital. 2) For most patients these alarm limits do not create a significant alarm load; however, for a small number of patients they cause a significant alarm load. 3) Alarm loads can be controlled with alarm limit settings appropriate to the population. 4) Current technology for HR and SpO(2) appear suitable for continuous monitoring of this population.