The effect of alarm fatigue on comfort in intensive care nurses

The study was carried out descriptively and cross-sectionally to determine the effect of alarm fatigue on comfort in intensive care nurses. The study was conducted with 98 nurses working in the intensive care units of Bucak State Hospital and Burdur State Hospital. The research data were collected by face-to-face interview method between December 2024 and March 2025 using the 'Nurse Introduction Form', 'Alarm Fatigue Assessment Scale', 'General Comfort Scale Short Form'. Microsoft Excel and SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) Release 21.0 were used to analyse the data and the critical decision threshold was accepted as p<0.05 for all tests. Chi-square test was applied for comparisons between categorical (gender, education level, etc.) data measured at classification and ranking level. Shapiro-Wilk test and Kolmogorov- Smirnov test were used for normal distribution of the data. Independent sample t test was preferred for the comparison of variables consisting of two groups and subgroups with normal distribution. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied for variables with more than two subgroups and meeting the normal distribution criteria. Among the sub-dimensions of the alarm fatigue assessment scale in the nurses participating in the study, the mean score was 12.70±4.47 in the 'Obstacles' subdimension, 18.93±5.31 in the 'Indifference' sub-dimension, 10.69±1.32 in the "Attention" sub-dimension, 12.95±1.97 in the 'Appropriate Response' sub-dimension, and 10.64±1.48 in the 'Special Devices' sub-dimension. The general comfort levels of the nurses were found to be at a medium-high level. General comfort scores were significantly predicted by barriers and special devices variables. As a result, alarm fatigue in intensive care nurses affected the comfort level. As alarm fatigue increased, a decrease in comfort levels was observed.