Technology in health care has become an active participant in collecting, recording, or transmitting clinical data. There are various types of medical devices and technology used such as cardiovascular (tele) monitors, oxygen saturation monitors, intravenous pumps, feeding pumps, EKGs, ventilators, bed/chair alarms, security alarms and call bells. The purpose of medical-technical equipment is to support nursing care in detecting, prevent, monitor, treat, compensate for injury and disability or alleviate disease (Tunlind, 2015).
However the Joint Commission announced their 2014 National Patient Safety Goal on clinical alarm safety due to the increasing amount of injuries and deaths that had occurred from ignoring alarms, turning alarms down …show more content…
Monitoring vitals and other device readings could determine if a patient is leading towards distress or an unfavorable event. Monitoring devices such as O2 sats, and telemetry sound off alerts when readings go outside its parameters to help nurses identify patient status. For instance a patient on a heart monitor is watching television and suddenly goes into A-fib or his oxygen drops to 85% these devices would send out an alert for nurses to hear, identify its source, assess the situation and the patient and provide necessary interventions (Lukasewicz, …show more content…
As a student nurse imagining performing a nurse’s role without these medical devices is exhausting and makes it more apparent how accommodating these technological advancements are. This student nurse is also aware of the negative effects and has witnessed it firsthand and concurs with Tunlind that it ultimately increases patient safety and reduces workload of staff.
Any unit of a hospital will present with an array of alarms from devices on top of the noise of normal hospital activities. Abundance of alarms and background noise can get overwhelming and make it difficult to identify the source of any one alarm. Lukasewicz defines alarm fatigue as: a situation where people become desensitized to alarms in response to excessive exposure. The constant state of readiness that is generated by persistent alarms and alerts results in the lowering of one’s attention threshold, reducing the urgency of response (2015). Alarm fatigue results in delay or failure to hear leading to error and affecting patient safety and care (Ross,
However the Joint Commission announced their 2014 National Patient Safety Goal on clinical alarm safety due to the increasing amount of injuries and deaths that had occurred from ignoring alarms, turning alarms down …show more content…
Monitoring vitals and other device readings could determine if a patient is leading towards distress or an unfavorable event. Monitoring devices such as O2 sats, and telemetry sound off alerts when readings go outside its parameters to help nurses identify patient status. For instance a patient on a heart monitor is watching television and suddenly goes into A-fib or his oxygen drops to 85% these devices would send out an alert for nurses to hear, identify its source, assess the situation and the patient and provide necessary interventions (Lukasewicz, …show more content…
As a student nurse imagining performing a nurse’s role without these medical devices is exhausting and makes it more apparent how accommodating these technological advancements are. This student nurse is also aware of the negative effects and has witnessed it firsthand and concurs with Tunlind that it ultimately increases patient safety and reduces workload of staff.
Any unit of a hospital will present with an array of alarms from devices on top of the noise of normal hospital activities. Abundance of alarms and background noise can get overwhelming and make it difficult to identify the source of any one alarm. Lukasewicz defines alarm fatigue as: a situation where people become desensitized to alarms in response to excessive exposure. The constant state of readiness that is generated by persistent alarms and alerts results in the lowering of one’s attention threshold, reducing the urgency of response (2015). Alarm fatigue results in delay or failure to hear leading to error and affecting patient safety and care (Ross,