Teaching and Research Section of Clinical Nursing, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China; Department of Health Science, Regentropfen College of Applied Sciences, Bongo, Upper East Region, Ghana.
Teaching and Research Section of Clinical Nursing, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China.
Aust Crit Care. 2024 Mar;37(2):273-280. doi: 10.1016/j.aucc.2023.06.010. Epub 2023 Aug 12.
Excessive number of alarms and false and nonactionable alarms may lead to alarm fatigue. Alarm fatigue could easily contribute to burnout. Burnout may reduce nurses' sensitivity to alarms, thus affecting patients' safety due to insufficient response to the alarms. However, no study has examined nurses' alarm fatigue in Ghana.
The objective of this study was to investigate the level of alarm fatigue and its associated factors, as well as determine its relationship with burnout among nurses working in the critical care units of hospitals in Ghana.
The cross-sectional study was conducted in critical care units of five hospitals in Ghana from November 2021 to January 2022. A total of 364 nurses were recruited and completed the questionnaire. Alarm fatigue was assessed by the alarm fatigue questionnaire, which was originally developed in Chinese and was translated into English using a standard protocol. Burnout was assessed using the Maslach Burnout Inventory.
The overall alarm fatigue score was 76.43 ± 27.80 out of 124. Longer years working at the critical care unit (B = -2.50, 95% confidence interval [CI]: -4.62, -0.37) and having policies related to alarm management (B = -10.77, 95% CI: -3.50, -18.04) were associated with a decreased risk of alarm fatigue, while working in neonatal intensive care unit (B = 16.35, 95% CI: 2.48, 30.21) and postanesthesia care unit (B = 15.16; 95% CI: 0.32, 30.01), and having anxiety and stress (B = 8.15, 95% CI: 1.30, 15.00) were associated with an increased risk of alarm fatigue. In addition, alarm fatigue was positively associated with emotional exhaustion (r = 0.52, P < 0.001) and depersonalisation (r = 0.43, P < 0.001) but not personal accomplishment (r = -0.09, P = 0.100).
Critical care nurses in Ghana experienced higher levels of alarm fatigue, which is affected by multiple factors. There is a significant link between nurses' alarm fatigue and burnout. Our findings provide important guidance for future intervention programs to improve critical care nurses' alarm fatigue by introducing policies on alarm management and improving nurses' psychological health, with a special focus on nurses with shorter working years and working in neonatal intensive care unit and postanesthesia care unit.
过多的报警和虚假的、无实际作用的报警可能导致报警疲劳。报警疲劳很容易导致倦怠。倦怠可能会降低护士对报警的敏感性，从而由于对报警的反应不足而影响患者的安全。然而，尚无研究调查加纳护士的报警疲劳情况。
本研究旨在调查加纳医院重症监护病房护士的报警疲劳水平及其相关因素，并确定其与倦怠之间的关系。
这项横断面研究于 2021 年 11 月至 2022 年 1 月在加纳的五家医院的重症监护病房进行。共招募了 364 名护士，并完成了问卷调查。使用最初在中国开发并使用标准协议翻译成英文的报警疲劳问卷评估报警疲劳。使用 Maslach 倦怠量表评估倦怠。
总体报警疲劳评分为 124 分中的 76.43 ± 27.80 分。在重症监护病房工作时间较长（B = -2.50，95%置信区间 [CI]：-4.62，-0.37）和有与报警管理相关的政策（B = -10.77，95%CI：-3.50，-18.04）与降低报警疲劳的风险相关，而在新生儿重症监护病房（B = 16.35，95%CI：2.48，30.21）和麻醉后护理病房（B = 15.16；95%CI：0.32，30.01）工作以及焦虑和压力（B = 8.15，95%CI：1.30，15.00）与增加报警疲劳的风险相关。此外，报警疲劳与情绪疲惫（r = 0.52，P < 0.001）和去人格化（r = 0.43，P < 0.001）呈正相关，但与个人成就感（r = -0.09，P = 0.100）无关。
加纳重症监护病房的护士经历了较高水平的报警疲劳，这受到多种因素的影响。护士的报警疲劳与倦怠之间存在显著关联。我们的研究结果为未来的干预计划提供了重要指导，通过引入报警管理政策和改善护士的心理健康，特别是关注工作年限较短、在新生儿重症监护病房和麻醉后护理病房工作的护士，以改善重症监护病房护士的报警疲劳。
