Close

Presentation

Beyond Anecdotes: Quantifying the Baseline Prevalence of Phantom Alarms in Healthcare
DescriptionSome healthcare workers easily relate to conversation about “phantom alarms”, despite limited literature surrounding the subject. “Phantom alarm” is used here to describe the phenomenon of experiencing alarms in the absence of a true alarm or even in an alarm-free environment. Nurses and nurse technicians from medical surgical and intensive care units were surveyed in a Midwest hospital system to establish the baseline prevalence rate of phantom alarms and investigate possible association with alarm fatigue. Most participants (84.24%) indicated experiencing phantom alarms, oftentimes during work hours when there are no alarms, and while they are asleep and dreaming. There was a weak positive correlation between the number of the activities in which the participants reported experiencing phantom alarms and the participant's alarm fatigue rating (r (140) = 0.257). More data is needed to understand the generalizability of this data and investigate what factors contribute to the experience of phantom alarms.
Event Type
Lecture
TimeThursday, September 12th9:10am - 9:30am MST
LocationGrand Ballroom
Tracks
Health Care