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- Title
Prevalence and Characteristics of Infusion Pump Alarms in the Intensive Care Unit: A Retrospective Data Analysis.
- Authors
Vitoux, Rachel; Lehr, Jennifer; Dekker, Mark; Schuster, Catherine
- Abstract
Purpose: To evaluate the prevalence and clinically relevant characteristics of infusion-pump alarms in the intensive care unit (ICU) environment. Alarms were quantified on the basis of frequency, duration, type of alarm, type of infusion, time of day, and day of week. By understanding infusion-pump alarm trends, we can begin to identify strategies to minimize preventable alarms and optimize response to actionable alarms. Background: Alarms affect patient safety, healing, and satisfaction and may cause alarm fatigue in clinicians. The technologyladen ICU presents a unique challenge in addressing alarms, with alarm occurrence as high as 45 times per patient per hour and with 77% of alarms ineffective or ignored. Although infusion-pump alarms contribute to approximately 10% to 12% of ICU alarms, compared with other medical device alarms, pump alarms can last the longest and can account for approximately 5% of infusion time. Method: Retrospective infusion data were collected for the period from May 2013 through April 2016 from 29 US hospitals (62-942 beds, combination of adult and pediatric ICUs) using the same model of large-volume infusion pump. For each of the hospitals, up to 18 months of infusion data were collected within an on-site infusion management application and transferred to a central server after being deidentified per the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. ICU data were identi- fied by the programmed drug-library care unit and extracted and analyzed using Microsoft SQL server. Results: This study has provided insight into the type and frequency of pump alarms in ICUs across 29 hospitals, suggesting opportunities for awareness and education to potentially decrease unnecessary alarms, such as by adjusting pump configurations, reinforcing best practices to avoid preventable alarms, and assessing weekend staffing and resource support. Future studies could assess the effectiveness of implementing some of these interventions and measure their impact on the frequency of pump alarms.
- Subjects
TEXAS; CONFERENCES &; conventions; DRUG infusion pumps; INTENSIVE care units; MONITOR alarms (Medicine); AMERICAN Association of Critical-Care Nurses
- Publication
American Journal of Critical Care, 2017, Vol 26, Issue 3, pe33
- ISSN
1062-3264
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.4037/ajcc2017676