Date of Award

11-14-2023

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Nursing (MScN)

First Advisor

Dr Salma Rattani

Second Advisor

Ms. Kashmira Nanji

Third Advisor

Ms. Tasnim Zainab

Department

School of Nursing and Midwifery, Pakistan

Abstract

Background: Alarm fatigue has been amongst some of the greatest burdens on health care professionals. Excessive alarms from monitoring devices make nurses suffer from alarm fatigue in such a way that it not only affects their psychological and emotional state and causes apathy, but it also leads to fatal consequences for patients, as well. Therefore, assessing alarm fatigue among nurses working in critical care units is an important concept, as nurses stay by the patients’ bedside and experience so much noise from monitors, ventilators, infusion devices, phone calls, doorbells, etc. Based on the mean scores of alarm fatigue among nurses working in critical care units, this study can help institutions overcome this huge burden of alarm fatigue. The findings of the study are expected to contribute in decreasing alarm fatigue by identifying its associated factors present in a hospital setting in Karachi, Pakistan.
Study Purpose 1. The aim of the study was to assess the mean scores of alarm fatigue and the factors associated with it, among nurses working in critical care units (acute care, intensive care, coronary care, and special care) at a tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. 2. The purpose of this research was also to identify from which source the registered nurses were experiencing more fatigue, whether it was clinical alarms, non-clinical alarms, or infusion devices’ alarms.
Method: An analytical cross-sectional study design and a quantitative research approach were used. Using the purposive sampling technique, 136 nurses were recruited for this study, including 10% non-respondents. From these, 128 nurses responded to the alarm fatigue questionnaire tool that consisted of 13 items. The mean scores of alarm fatigue among nurses were calculate.
Findings The T-Test was used for independent variables for the factors which were categorized in two groups, like marital status, gender, job designation, and job shifts. The ANOVA test was applied for those factors which were divided into three or more groups like age, educational status, years of experience, and unit of working. The mean scores of alarm fatigue were 27.78 ± 7.93 out of 44, which means that nurses were severely experiencing alarm fatigue. Moreover, factors like age and years of experience were found to be associated with alarm fatigue. Conclusion: Alarm fatigue is a serious burden on the health care industry, as it poses threats to patients’ safety, therefore, measures like management of device alarms should be taken timely. Surveillance should be maintained and policies on clinical alarms should be followed strictly in order to reduce false alarms.

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