Alarm fatigue, which can occur when physicians and nurses become desensitized to clinical alarms, could be reduced by improving the training of clinicians and customizing the default settings on alarms used to monitor patients, leading opioid safety experts said in a recent webinar. Continue reading “Top Patient Safety Experts Explore Ways to Reduce Alarm Fatigue in Webinar”
Category: Alarm Fatigue
Health Experts Discuss 4 Keys to Reducing Alarm Fatigue
Training, education and individualization are some of the keys to better alarm management discussed by leading health experts during a recent webinar. The March 4, 2014 webinar was hosted Premier Safety Institute as part of their Advisor Live series.
Discussing the importance of training in reducing alarm fatigue, Joan Speigel, MD, Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology, Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, said:
With end tidal CO2, of course, the training is the most important thing, is what to ignore and what not to ignore. Certainly it requires a lot of training. I don’t know how much I take it for granted that I understand the device very well—in capnography, that is. For the untrained person, what is going to trigger an alarm is very different than for myself.
Continue reading “Health Experts Discuss 4 Keys to Reducing Alarm Fatigue”
National Coalition for Alarm Management Safety: Working to Improve Alarm Management
The Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety (PPAHS) is pleased to announce its participation and engagement with the National Coalition for Alarm Management Safety to improve the practice of managing alarms. Continue reading “National Coalition for Alarm Management Safety: Working to Improve Alarm Management”
Harold Oglesby, Noted Opioid Safety Expert and Patient Safety Advocate, Joins Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety Advisory Board
The Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety (PPAHS) announced today that Harold Oglesby, Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT), Manager, The Center for Pulmonary Health, Candler Hospital, and St. Joseph’s/Candler Health System (SJ/C), has joined the PPAHS Board of Advisors.
“On behalf of PPAHS, I am thrilled to offer the warmest of welcomes to Harold Oglesby as he joins our Board of Advisors,” said PPAHS Executive Director Michael Wong, JD. “As a well-respected authority on respiratory therapy and opioid safety, as well as a life-long advocate for patient safety, Mr. Oglesby embodies everything about our mission and shares our passionate commitment to improve patient health and safety.” Continue reading “Harold Oglesby, Noted Opioid Safety Expert and Patient Safety Advocate, Joins Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety Advisory Board”
Nine Technological Solutions to Manage Alarm Fatigue
By Maria Cvach, DNP, RN, CCRN, and Michael Wong, JD
(This article first published in 24×7 Magazine on March 2, 2014. John Bethune, their editor-in-chief, also did an editorial (see page 8 in their February edition) on the nine technological solutions: http://24×7.alliedmedia360.com)
Patient monitors represent the good and the bad consequences of modern medical technology. The good results come when medical device alarms alert caregivers to clinical deterioration of their patients, allowing them to intervene. The bad ones happen when alarms sound too often, or for a nonactionable issue, and caregivers become desensitized or immune to the audible alarm sounds altogether.
In its “Sentinel Event Alert” number 50, headlined “Medical Device Alarm Safety in Hospitals,” The Joint Commission explained this dichotomy as follows: Continue reading “Nine Technological Solutions to Manage Alarm Fatigue”
PPAHS Gets a New Look
Dear readers,
You may have noticed that the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health and Safety (PPAHS) recently changed and updated the look of our website.
We found that, as we grew our library of articles and resources, the old design was cluttered and made it difficult to find key resources directly from the home page.
We improved the layout and design so that you will have better organization for those resources you are looking to review. Continue reading “PPAHS Gets a New Look”
Perspectives on Opioid Safety and Continuous Electronic Monitoring
by Sean Power
In honor of Patient Safety Awareness Week last week, the Premier Safety Institute gathered experts on opioid safety to participate in a webinar discussion. The panel, moderated by Gina Pugliese, RN, MS, vice president, Premier Safety Institute, Premier Inc., featured several authorities on opioid safety, including: Continue reading “Perspectives on Opioid Safety and Continuous Electronic Monitoring”
3 Findings on Alarm Management from the Attendee Survey at the Society for Technology in Anesthesia 2014 Annual Meeting
by Sean Power
February 26, 2014
A survey of attendees conducted at the annual meeting of the Society for Technology in Anesthesia collected data about opinions toward alarm management. Continue reading “3 Findings on Alarm Management from the Attendee Survey at the Society for Technology in Anesthesia 2014 Annual Meeting”
PPAHS Joins Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation in Call for a “Paradigm Shift” in Opioid Safety
by Sean Power
February 19, 2014
“It’s time for a change in how we monitor postoperative patients receiving opioids,” declares Dr. Robert Stoelting, president of the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF). “We need a complete paradigm shift in how we approach safer care for postoperative patients receiving opioids.” Continue reading “PPAHS Joins Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation in Call for a “Paradigm Shift” in Opioid Safety”
Making the Case for Maximum Alarm Management and Prevention of Alarm Fatigue
By Lynn Razzano, RN, MSN, ONCC (Clinical Nurse Consultant)
17-year old Mariah Edwards went in for a procedure that is performed countless times each year – a tonsillectomy. Recovering after the successful and very routine procedure, she was administered a dose of fentanyl to manage her pain. Although she was monitored continuously electronically, one of the attending nurses admitted on discovery that the monitor was muted for sound.
The settlement: $6 million. But, what really is $6 million to the parents of Mariah Edwards who have lost a child? What is the emotional toll to her nurses and other caregivers? Continue reading “Making the Case for Maximum Alarm Management and Prevention of Alarm Fatigue”