Dangers of Medical Monitor Alarm Fatigue

Walk into any hospital or clinic today, and likely you’ll hear the constant din of medical monitor beeps, blips, and alarms. Now, imagine working a shift as a nurse, technician, or doctor – chances are your patients’ medical monitors would emit several alarms throughout the day. Some of these alarms may sound due to serious, emergent medical issues, while others may be triggered by more innocuous situations, such as when a mobile patient rolls over in bed. And, while it’s incumbent on medical staffers to check on a patient every time an alarm sounds, the truth is that the high occurrence of false alarms has desensitized many nurses and techs, lulling them into delaying their responses to some of these medical monitor alarms.

According to one study, alarm fatigue was linked to more than 200 hospital deaths during the years 2005 through 2010. Though, because these incidents aren’t always reported correctly, the actual death toll could be much higher. In addition to potentially causing patients to die, hospitals are opening themselves up to costly malpractice lawsuits when injury or death occurs as the result of medical monitor alarm fatigue. Such incidences may also result in more intangible losses to the hospital, such as an irreparably tarnished reputation in the community.

One of the first steps that medical facilities can take in combating alarm fatigue is in making it easier for staff to keep an eye on the status of patients throughout each shift. Installing sophisticated, wireless patient monitoring devices in your nurses’ stations is one great way to do this. Wireless medical monitor equipment from Infinium Medical uses the latest technology to report clear, accurate patient data to nursing stations or other remote locations, allowing your staff to keep a close eye on patients’ conditions at all times. Plus, our medical monitoring equipment is durable and rigorously tested by expert medical professionals to ensure they are truly reliable.

Contact Infinium Medical today for more information about our top-quality medical monitor options.  Our knowledgeable customer service representatives will be glad to speak with you and help you select the right medical monitors for your healthcare facility.