Examination of the effect of monitor alarm management training given to intensive care nurses on alarm management and alarm fatigue

This research was conducted as a pretest-posttest, single-group, quasi-experimental study to examine the effect of monitor alarm management training given to intensive care nurses on their alarm management behaviours and alarm fatigue levels. The sample of the study included 19 nurses working in the internal and surgical intensive care units of a public hospital in the Black Sea Region. Data were collected using the "Nurse Information Form", "Monitor Alarms Management Monitoring Form", "Monitor Alarm Management Knowledge Test" and "Alarm Fatigue Scale". As an intervention in the research, "Monitor Alarm Management Training" was given to the intensive care nurses by using training presentation, case study and reminder cards. Monitor alarm management behaviours of intensive care nurses were monitored for a total of 1824 hours, 48 hours in the pretest and 48 hours in the posttest, for each nurse, on weekdays and weekends, in all shifts, using the non-participant observation method. During this period, the data of all monitor alarms that occurred, including 322 alarms in the pretest and 199 alarms in the posttest, were analysed. Mean, standard deviation, frequency, kappa statistics, paired two-sample t-test, chi-square test, Pearson correlation coefficient and McNemar's test were used in the analysis of the data. Statistically significant differences were found between the distribution of pre-test and posttest crisis alarms (p=0.032), nurses' customization of alarm value ranges based on the clinical condition of the patient (p=0.001), whether they performed skin cleaning (p=0.001) and alarm response times (p=0.008). It was determined that the response of "checking and restoring mechanical ventilator connections" increased significantly, while the response of "silencing, muting the alarm" decreased significantly in the posttest (p=0.016). A statistically significant difference was found in the monitor alarm management knowledge and alarm fatigue scores between the pretest and posttest (p<0.001). As a result, it was concluded that the monitor alarm management training given to intensive care nurses increased the level of knowledge, improved effective alarm management behaviours, and reduced the level of alarm fatigue. We recommend focusing more on monitor alarm management training in providing effective alarm management behaviours and reducing alarm fatigue.