It is an audible or visual signal that alerts medical personnel that a patient's physiologic parameters are outside of set thresholds or that there is a device disorder, and that the patient is or may be at risk and requires timely intervention by medical personnel. Alarm-based adverse events occur frequently, and alarm fatigue, failure to respond to alarms, and inappropriate parameter settings are common causes of alarm-related adverse events in clinical settings.
Nurses, as the primary users of medical devices, have an important role to play in recognizing and managing alarms, which is critical to patient safety.