Nursing - Alarm Fatigue - Literature Appraisal of Evidence

EBP Project Evaluation
CitationPurposeDesignSubject/SettingFindings/Results
Independent Variable
Dependent Variable
Implication for PracticeMethodsData Analysis
StatsLevel & Quality of Evidence (Strength & Confidence to Act)
Benjamin, D. M., Bryant, S. E., Calloway, S. D., Fisher, W., Gilroy, P., Jackson, G. J., O’Kelly, T., Pejakovich, P., Rohde, K., & Voutt-Goos, M. J. (2014). Boston Medical Center reduces alarm fatigue by recalibrating alarm limits. Patient Safety Monitor Journal, 15(4): 1-7.
Benjamin et al.. (2014) sought to investigate how an intervention was implemented at Boston Medical Centre (BMC) to decrease alarm fatigue. They also examined the efficacy of this intervention.
Case study. The researchers focused on the case of one organization, BMC, and how it had implemented the program to reduce alarms and alarm fatigue on all medical-surgical units throughout the hospital facility.Boston Medical Centre served as the setting of the study. Prior to implementing the program, BMC initially carried out a pilot study which started in 2012 August. A pilot study was initially conducted on a single medical-surgical unit which transformed into an initiative carried out across the hospital which decreased alarms on all the hospital’s units from 1 million each week to just 400,000 each week. The pilot program showed a decrease of 89 percent in total mean weekly audible alarms by decreasing averages from 12,546 daily to 1,424 daily.
Benjamin et al.. (2014) also discovered that medical-surgical units at BMC are now considerably quieter, nursing staffs are evidently happier, and BMC has positioned itself as a countrywide model for decreasing alarm fatigue. BMC is now recognized countrywide as a leader in alarm management. Even as some health care organizations are trying to add technology in combating the issue of constantly beeping alarms, the approach used by Boston Medical Centre illustrates the opportunity f...