The response rate to monitor alarms among nurses in a pediatric hospital unit was low, a study published in the Journal of Hospital Medicine found.
Researchers observed nurses in a general pediatric unit at a large children's hospital. They used a tool to assess nurse responses to monitor alarms. They gathered data on the frequency and type of alarms from bedside monitors.
They conducted 61.3 hours of observation of nine nurses, during which time there were 207 nurse responses to patient alarms.
They found that nurses decided not to respond for 67 percent of alarms. The most commonly cited reason for not responding was "reassuring clinical context," for example, a medical team was in the room at the rime.
Nurses deemed clinical intervention necessary in only 7 percent of cases when alarms went off.
"These findings suggest that multiple system-level and educational interventions may be necessary to improve the efficacy and safety of continuous monitoring," study authors concluded.
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