Wpływ szkolenia z zarządzania alarmami monitorów na poziom zmęczenia alarmami u pielęgniarek oddziałów intensywnej terapii

BACKGROUND: Frequent activation of monitor alarms, many of which are clinically insignificant, may contribute to alarm fatigue and reduced attentiveness among nurses. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of monitor alarm management training on the level of alarm fatigue of nurses in intensive care units. METHODS: A single-group, quasi-experimental study with a pre- and post-test design was conducted in 2024 among 48 ICU nurses from 2 tertiary hospitals in southern Iran. Participants were selected systematically based on predefined criteria. The intervention included 6 weeks of educational sessions, comprising lectures, workshops, and multimedia classes, focused on alarm management for bedside monitoring equipment, ventilators, and infusion pumps. Data were gathered using a demographic questionnaire and a standardized alarm fatigue scale. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS v26 and paired t-tests at the 0.05 significance level. RESULTS: The mean age of participants was 30.89 ± 4.41 years; most were women (58.3%) and held bachelor's degrees (95.8%). Alarm fatigue scores significantly declined from 34.52 ± 10.47 to 26.64 ± 4.80 post-intervention (mean difference = 7.88, 95% CI 5.33-10.38, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Incorporating targeted training on alarm settings can be an effective step toward reducing alarm fatigue and supporting safer, more attentive nursing practice in critical care settings. Given that a large proportion of monitor alarms-85-99%-are false or clinically insignificant, integrating this knowledge into training programs helps nurses prioritize clinically relevant alerts and enhance patient safety.