Critical Care Alarm Fatigue and Monitor Customization: Alarm Frequencies and Context Factors.

BACKGROUND: Alarm fatigue among nurses working in the intensive care unit has garnered considerable attention as a national patient safety priority. A viable solution for reducing the frequency of alarms and unnecessary noise is intensive care unit alarm monitor customization. LOCAL PROBLEM: A 24-bed cardiovascular and thoracic surgery intensive care unit in a large academic medical center identified a high rate of alarms and associated noise as a problem contributing to nurse alarm fatigue. METHODS: An alarm monitor quality improvement project used both alarm frequency and nurse surveys before and after implementation to determine the effectiveness of interventions. Multimodal interventions included nurse training sessions, informational flyers, organizational policies, and an alarm monitor training video. Unexpected results inspired an extensive investigation and secondary analysis, which included examining the data-capturing capabilities of the alarm monitors and the impact of context factors. RESULTS: Alarm frequencies unexpectedly increased after the intervention. The software data-capturing features of the alarm monitors for determining frequency did not accurately measure nurse interactions with monitors. Measured increases in patient census, nurse staffing, and data input from medical devices from before to after the intervention substantially affected project results. CONCLUSIONS: Alarm frequencies proved an unreliable measure of nurse skills and practices in alarm customization. Documented changes in context factors provided strong anecdotal evidence of changed circumstances that clarified project results and underscored the critical importance of contemporaneous collection of context data. Designs and methods used in quality improvement projects must include reliable outcome measures to achieve meaningful results.

[Development of Vital Signal Monitoring System Based on Accelerometer].

OBJECTIVE: Reduce the number of false alarms and measurement time caused by movement interference by the sync waveform of the movement. METHODS: Vital signal monitoring system based on motion sensor was developed, which collected and processed the vital signals continuously, optimized the features and results of vital signals and transmitted the vital signal results and alarms to the interface. RESULTS: The system was tested in many departments, such as digestive department, cardiology department, internal medicine department, hepatobiliary surgery department and emergency department, and the total collection time was 1 940 h. The number of false electrocardiograph (ECG) alarms decreased by 82.8%, and the proportion of correct alarms increased by 28%. The average measurement time of non-invasive blood pressure (NIBP) decreased by 16.1 s. The total number of false respiratory rate measurement decreased by 71.9%. CONCLUSIONS: False alarms and measurement failures can be avoided by the vital signal monitoring system based on accelerometer to reduce the alarm fatigue in clinic.

The effects of alarm fatigue on the tendency to make medical errors in nurses working in intensive care units.

BACKGROUND: Alarm fatigue resulting from exposure to multiple alarms is an important problem that threatens patient safety. The fact that each device in intensive care units works with different alarm systems increases the number and variety of alarms. AIM: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of alarm fatigue on the tendency of nurses working in intensive care units to make medical errors. STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional and correlational design were used in this study. The study was carried out with 382 intensive care nurses who could be reached via an electronic questionnaire. Data were collected using a 'Personal Information Form', the 'Alarm Fatigue Scale (AFS)' and the 'Medical Error Tendency Scale in Nursing (METSN)'. RESULTS: The mean age of the nurses who were included in the study was 31.52 ± 5.66. While 70.2% of the participants were women, 67% had bachelor's degrees, and 65.4% had been working in the intensive care unit for 1-5 years. The mean total METSN score of the participants was 229.29 ± 15.32, and their mean total AFS score was 20.02 ± 6.15. A negative and weak significant correlation was found between the total mean AFS and METSN scores of the participants (r = -0.275; p < .001). As the alarm fatigue levels of the participants increased, their medical error tendencies increased. It was determined that a one-unit increase in the alarm fatigue level of intensive care nurses increased their tendency to make medical errors by 0.263 units (p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: It was found that the nurses had a low tendency to make medical errors and moderate levels of alarm fatigue, and an increase in their alarm fatigue levels significantly increased their medical error tendencies. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Institutions should establish alarm management procedures in units with multiple alarm systems, such as intensive care units, and examine the effects of alarms on employees.

Ten Years Later, Alarm Fatigue Is Still a Safety Concern.

Ten years after the publication of a landmark article in AACN Advanced Critical Care, alarm fatigue continues to be an issue that researchers, clinicians, and organizations aim to remediate. Alarm fatigue contributes to missed alarms and medical errors that result in patient death, increased clinical workload and burnout, and interference with patient recovery. Led by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, national patient safety organizations continue to prioritize efforts to battle alarm fatigue and have proposed alarm management strategies to mitigate the effects of alarm fatigue. Similarly, clinical efforts now use simulation studies, individualized alarm thresholds, and interdisciplinary teams to optimize alarm use. Finally, engineering research efforts have innovated the standard alarm to convey information more effectively for medical users. By focusing on patient and provider safety, clinical workflow, and alarm technology, efforts to reduce alarm fatigue over the past 10 years have been grounded in an evidence-based and personnel-focused approach.

Clinical Alarms in a Gynaecological Surgical Unit: A Retrospective Data Analysis.

Alarm fatigue refers to the desensitisation of medical staff to patient monitor clinical alarms, which may lead to slower response time or total ignorance of alarms and thereby affects patient safety. The reasons behind alarm fatigue are complex; the main contributing factors include the high number of alarms and the poor positive predictive value of alarms. The study was performed in the Surgery and Anaesthesia Unit of the Women's Hospital, Helsinki, by collecting data from patient monitoring device clinical alarms and patient characteristics from surgical operations. We descriptively analysed the data and statistically analysed the differences in alarm types between weekdays and weekends, using chi-squared, for a total of eight monitors with 562 patients. The most common operational procedure was caesarean section, of which 149 were performed (15.7%). Statistically significant differences existed in alarm types and procedures between weekdays and weekends. The number of alarms produced was 11.7 per patient. In total, 4698 (71.5%) alarms were technical and 1873 (28.5%) were physiological. The most common physiological alarm type was low pulse oximetry, with a total of 437 (23.3%). Of all the alarms, the number of alarms either acknowledged or silenced was 1234 (18.8%). A notable phenomenon in the study unit was alarm fatigue. Greater customisation of patient monitors for different settings is needed to reduce the number of alarms that do not have clinical significance.

Acceptance of Acute Kidney Injury Alert by Providers in Cardiac Surgery Intensive Care Unit.

BACKGROUND: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication after cardiac surgery and is associated with worse outcomes. Its management relies on early diagnosis, and therefore, electronic alerts have been used to alert clinicians for development of AKI. Electronic alerts are, however, associated with high rates of alert fatigue. OBJECTIVES: We designed this study to assess the acceptance of user-centered electronic AKI alert by clinicians. METHODS: We developed a user-centered electronic AKI alert that alerted clinicians of development of AKI in a persistent yet noninterruptive fashion. As the goal of the alert was to alert toward new or worsening AKI, it disappeared 48 hours after being activated. We assessed the acceptance of the alert using surveys at 6 and 12 months after the alert went live. RESULTS: At 6 months after their implementation, 38.9% providers reported that they would not have recognized AKI as early as they did without this alert. This number increased to 66.7% by 12 months of survey. Most providers also shared that they re-dosed or discontinued medications earlier, provided earlier management of volume status, avoided intravenous contrast use, and evaluated patients by using point-of-care ultrasounds more due to the alert. Overall, 83.3% respondents reported satisfaction with the electronic AKI alerts at 6 months and 94.4% at 12 months. CONCLUSION: This study showed high rates of acceptance of a user-centered electronic AKI alert over time by clinicians taking care of patients with AKI.

Perceptually Discriminating the Highest Priority Alarms Reduces Response Time: A Retrospective Pre-Post Study at Four Hospitals.

OBJECTIVE: Reduce nurse response time for emergency and high-priority alarms by increasing discriminability between emergency and all other alarms and suppressing redundant and likely false high-priority alarms in a secondary alarm notification system (SANS). BACKGROUND: Emergency alarms are the most urgent, requiring immediate action to address a dangerous situation. They are clinician-triggered and have higher positive predictive value (PPV). High-priority alarms are automatically triggered and have lower PPV. METHOD: We performed a retrospective pre-post study, analyzing data 15 months before and 25 months after a SANS redesign was implemented in four hospitals. For emergency alarms, we incorporated digitized human speech to distinguish them from automatically triggered alarms, leaving their onset and escalation pathways unchanged. For automatically triggered alarms, we suppressed some by delaying initial onset and escalation by 20 s. We used linear mixed models to assess the change in response time, Fisher's exact test for the proportion of response times longer than 120 s, and control charts for process stability. RESULTS: Response time for emergency alarms decreased at all hospitals (main, from 26.91 s to 22.32 s, p < .001; cardiac, from 127.10 s to 52.43 s, p < .001; cancer, from 18.03 s to 15.39 s, p < .001). Improvements were sustained. Automatically triggered alarms decreased 25.0%. Response time for the three automatically triggered cardiac alarms increased at the four hospitals. CONCLUSION: Auditory sound disambiguation was associated with a sustained reduced nurse response time for emergency alarms, but suppressing some high-priority automatically triggered alarms was not. APPLICATION: Distinguishing and escalating urgent, actionable alarms with higher PPV improves response time.

Parametrização dos alarmes de frequência respiratória em ventiladores mecânicos de pacientes durante o banho / Parameterization of respiratory rate alarms in mechanical ventilators of patients during the bath / Parametrización de las alarmas de frecuencia respiratoria en ventiladores mecánicos de pacientes durante el baño

RESUMO Objetivo: medir os efeitos da parametrização dos alarmes sonoros de frequência respiratória dos ventiladores mecânicos para redução do número de alarmes disparados durante o banho no leito. Método: ensaio clínico pragmático, para comparar o número de alarmes do ventilador mecânico nos grupos: intervenção - os alarmes de Frequência Respiratória foram parametrizados no início do banho; controle - não realizada parametrização. Estudo registrado em 27/08/2019 no Registro Brasileiro de Ensaios Clínicos, RBR-6y6tyc, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. Resultados: os modelos de regressão evidenciaram que a parametrização, realizada e mantida durante e após o banho no grupo intervenção, teve o efeito de aumentar 12,5 e 6,4 vezes, respectivamente, o número médio de disparos de alarmes de frequência respiratória alta; e não teve efeito nos alarmes de frequência respiratória baixa. Conclusão: a contribuição deste estudo é auxiliar os profissionais de saúde na formulação de protocolos de parametrização individualizada dos alarmes dos Ventiladores Mecânicos.

ABSTRACT Objective: to measure the effects of parameterizing the audible respiratory rate alarms of mechanical ventilators to reduce the number of alarms triggered during bed bath. Method: pragmatic clinical trial, to compare the number of alarms of the mechanical ventilator, in the groups: intervention - the Respiratory Rate alarms were parameterized at the beginning of the bath; control - no parameterization performed. Study registered on 27/08/2019 in the Brazilian Registry of Clinical Trials, RBR-6y6tyc, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Results: Regression models showed that parameterization, performed and maintained during and after bath in the intervention group, had the effect of increasing the average number of high respiratory rate alarm triggers by 12.5 and 6.4 times, respectively; and had no effect on low respiratory rate alarms. Conclusion: The contribution of this study is to assist health professionals in formulating protocols for individualized parameterization of alarms for Mechanical Ventilators.

RESUMEN Objetivo: medir los efectos de la parametrización de las alarmas sonoras de frecuencia respiratoria de los ventiladores mecánicos para reducir el número de alarmas disparadas durante el baño en cama. Método: ensayo clínico pragmático, para comparar el número de alarmas del ventilador mecánico en los grupos: intervención - se parametrizaron las alarmas de Frecuencia Respiratoria al inicio del baño; control - no se realizó parametrización. Estudio registrado el 27/08/2019 en el Registro Brasileño de Ensayos Clínicos, RBR-6y6tyc, Río de Janeiro, Brasil. Resultados: Los modelos de regresión mostraron que la parametrización, realizada y mantenida durante y después del baño en el grupo de intervención, tuvo el efecto de aumentar 12,5 y 6,4 veces, respectivamente, el número medio de disparos de alarmas de frecuencia respiratoria alta; y no tuvo ningún efecto sobre las alarmas de frecuencia respiratoria baja. Conclusión: la contribución de este estudio es ayudar a los profesionales de la salud en la formulación de protocolos para la parametrización individual de las alarmas de los Ventiladores Mecánicos.

Critical Care Nurses' Perceptions of Clinical Alarm Management on Nursing Practice.

The alarm management of physiological monitoring systems is a key responsibility of critical care nurses. However, the high numbers of false and nonactionable (true but clinically irrelevant) alarms cause distractions to healthcare professionals, interruptions to nursing workflow, and ignoring of crucial tasks. Therefore, understanding how nurses manage large amounts of alarms in their daily work could provide a direction to design interventions to prevent adverse patient care effects. A qualitative design with focus group interviews was conducted with 37 nurses in Taiwan. Content analysis was performed to analyze the interview data, and four main themes were derived: (1) the foundation stone of critical care nursing practice; (2) a trajectory adaptation of alarms management; (3) adverse impacts on the quality of care and patient safety; and (4) a hope for multimodal learning alternatives and wireless technology. Nurses manage alarm parameter settings influenced not only by their knowledge and skills of patient care, but also in accordance with the three dimensions of technology, human, and organization evaluation framework. Customized alarm management training alternatives, patient-centered care values, and application of wireless technology are the suggested approaches to enhance nursing care and minimize the risk of adverse events.

Ergonomic Auditory Alarm Signals for the Oil and Chemical Processing Industry.

OCCUPATIONAL APPLICATIONSAuditory alarm signals are a safety measure that would benefit from improvement across many industries. There is a considerable research base that can be applied to the development and testing of audible alarms, though this is rarely done in practice. We describe a process that can be adopted in any area where audible alarm signals are widespread. A comprehensive approach to updating and improving auditory alarms requires consideration not only of individual alarm sounds but also of how the alarm signals will work together. We show the development and design of alarm signal sets following best practices from acoustic, psychoacoustic, and psychological knowledge to ensure that the resultant alarms are localizable, audible, easy to learn, appropriately urgency-mapped, and differentiable. We also describe benchmarking tests, and a protocol for thinking about how auditory alarm signals might be implemented in control rooms of different sizes.

Analysis of a Novel Inpatient Acute Limb Ischemia Alert System.

OBJECTIVES: Acute limb ischemia (ALI) is a surgical emergency that generally develops in the outpatient setting. Hospitalized patients are also at risk for acute limb ischemia, but their presentation may be atypical or altered by medical therapy. Our institution developed an alert system to facilitate the prompt recognition and treatment of ALI that occurs in the inpatient population. We aimed to evaluate the usage of the system after the first 2 years of operation. METHODS: All ALI alerts from October 2017 to December 2019 were collected from paging records and analyzed for location, timing, and the need for intervention. Alerts undergoing vascular intervention were classified as urgent (within 8 hours) or delayed (after 8 hr). Time and location data were evaluated to determine patterns of usage and true-positive rate of the system. RESULTS: From October 2017 to December 2019, there were 237 ALI alerts obtained from paging records containing time and location information for the alert. More alerts originated from ICUs relative to non-ICU floors (68% vs. 33%, P< 0.001), however a greater proportion of non-ICU floor alerts required intervention compared to ICU alerts (32.0% vs. 5.1%, P < .0001). The highest number of ALI alerts were from the Medical ICU (MRICU) (45.9%) and medical/surgical floors (33.3%), followed by Surgical ICU (20.2%). Alerts were more common within 3 hr of morning and evening nursing shift changes (47.3%, P < 0.001). From the 237 total alerts, the patient was able to be identified retrospectively in 186 cases, and of these 27 resulted in operative interventions (14.5%, positive predictive value), with 11 patients (40.7%) requiring urgent intervention with a median time to intervention of 3.5 hr (range 2.2-4.8), and 16 (59%) alerts undergoing a delayed intervention at a mean of 3 days (range 2-4). A total of 73 (39.2%) alert patients died during their admission, of which 65 (89.0%) were in an ICU, and no deaths were directly related to ALI. The median time to death was 2 days (range 0-95 days), and in 22 cases death occurred <24 hr from time of alert. CONCLUSION: Our novel hospital-wide ALI alert system demonstrates a 14.5% positive predictive value for ischemia that resulted in an intervention. Alerts were more likely to originate from the ICU setting and during nursing shift changes. Alerts originating from non-ICU floors were 5 times more likely to undergo surgical intervention for ALI. Further analysis is required to assess the effect of this system on patient safety, outcome, and allocation of institutional resources.

Effectiveness of application of a manual for improvement of alarms management by nurses in Intensive Care Units / Efectividad de la aplicación de un manual para la gestión de alarmas en enfermeros de Unidades de Cuidados Intensivos / Eficácia da aplicação de manual para gerenciamento de alarmes em enfermeiros de Unidades de Terapia Intensiva

Objective. To evaluate the effects of application of a manual on the improvement of alarms management in Intensive Care Units (ICU). Methods. This quasi-experimental study evaluated the effectiveness of the introduction into of a manual for alarm management and control in the ICU of a hospital in southeastern Iran. The intervention was a 4-hour workshop was on topics related to the adverse effects of alarms, standardization of ECG, oxygen saturation and blood pressure monitoring systems, and the use of ventilators and infusion pumps. Data were collected thorough 200 hours of observation of 60 ICU nurses (100 hours' pre-intervention and 100 hours' post-intervention). Response time, type of response, customization of alarm settings for each patient, the person responding to an alarm, and the cause of the alarm were analyzed. Alarms were classified into three types: false, true and technical. Results. The results showed a statistically significant difference between the pre- and post-intervention frequency of alarm types, frequency of monitoring parameters, customized monitoring settings for patients, and individuals who responded to alarms. The percentage of effective interventions was significantly higher for all parameters after the intervention (46.9%) than before the intervention (38.9%). Conclusion. The employment of a manual for management of alarms from electronic equipment in ICUs can increase the frequency of appropriate responses to alarms in these units.

Objetivo. Evaluar los efectos de la aplicación de un manual en el mejoramiento de la gestión de las alarmas en enfermeros las Unidades de Cuidados Intensivos -UCI-. Métodos. Estudio cuasi- experimental en el que se evaluó la efectividad de la introducción de un manual en la práctica para la prevención y el control de alarmas en una UCI de un hospital del sudeste de Irán. Se realizó un taller de 4 horas de duración que incluía temas relacionados con los efectos adversos de las alarmas, la estandarización en los sistemas de monitoreo de ECG, saturación de oxígeno y presión arterial, y del uso de ventiladores y de bombas de infusión. Se realizaron 200 horas de observación a 60 enfermeras de la UCI (100 horas antes y 100 horas después de la intervención). Se analizó el tiempo de respuesta, el tipo de respuesta, la personalización de los ajustes de la alarma para cada paciente, la persona que responde a una alarma y la causa de la alarma. Las alarmas se clasificaron en tres tipos: falsas, verdaderas y técnicas. Resultados. Los hallazgos mostraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre la frecuencia de los tipos de alarma antes y después de la intervención, la frecuencia de los parámetros de monitorización, los ajustes de monitorización personalizados para los pacientes y las personas que responden a las alarmas. El porcentaje de intervenciones efectivas para el total de parámetros fue significativamente mayor después de la intervención (46.9%) que antes de la misma (38.9%). Conclusión. Los resultados del estudio muestran que el empleo del manual para la gestión de las alarmas de los equipos electrónicos en una UCI puede aumentar la frecuencia de respuestas adecuadas de los enfermeros de estos servicios.

Objetivo. Avaliar os efeitos da aplicação de um manual na melhoria do gerenciamento de alarmes em enfermeiros de Unidades de Terapia Intensiva -UTI-. Métodos. Estudo quase-experimental no qual foi avaliada a eficácia da introdução na prática de um manual para prevenção e controle de alarmes em uma UTI de hospital no sudeste do Irã. Foi realizado um workshop de 4 horas que incluiu tópicos relacionados aos efeitos adversos dos alarmes, padronização dos sistemas de monitoração de ECG, saturação de oxigênio e pressão arterial e uso de ventiladores e bombas de infusão. Foram realizadas 200 horas de observação em 60 enfermeiras de UTI (100 horas antes e 100 horas após a intervenção). O tempo de resposta, o tipo de resposta, a personalização das configurações de alarme para cada paciente, a pessoa que responde a um alarme e a causa do alarme foram analisados. Os alarmes foram classificados em três tipos: falso, verdadeiro e técnico. Resultados. Os resultados mostraram diferenças estatisticamente significativas entre a frequência dos tipos de alarme antes e depois da intervenção, a frequência dos parâmetros de monitoração, configurações de monitoração personalizadas para pacientes e pessoas que respondem aos alarmes. O percentual de intervenções eficazes para todos os parâmetros foi significativamente maior após a intervenção (46,9%) do que antes (38,9%). Conclusão. Os resultados do estudo mostram que a utilização do manual para gerenciamento de alarmes de equipamentos eletrônicos em UTIs pode aumentar a frequência de respostas adequadas aos alarmes nos enfermeiros desses serviços.

A Remote Surveillance Platform to Monitor General Care Ward Surgical Patients for Acute Physiologic Deterioration.

BACKGROUND: The traditional paradigm of hospital surgical ward care consists of episodic bedside visits by providers with periodic perusals of the patient's electronic health record (EHR). Vital signs and laboratory results are directly pushed to the EHR but not to providers themselves. Results that require intervention may not be recognized for hours. Remote surveillance programs continuously monitor electronic data and provide automatic alerts that can be routed to multidisciplinary providers. Such programs have not been explored in surgical general care wards. METHODS: We performed a quality improvement observational study of otolaryngology and ophthalmology patients on a general care ward from October 2017 to March 2019 during nighttime hours (17:00-07:00). The study was initiated due to the loss of on-site anesthesiology resources that historically helped respond to acute physiologic deterioration events. We implemented a remote surveillance software program to continuously monitor patients for severe vital signs and laboratory abnormalities and automatically alert the ward team and a remote critical care anesthesiology team. The primary end point was the true positive rate, defined as the proportion of alerts that were associated with a downstream action that changed the care of the patient. This was determined using systematic chart review. The secondary end point, as a measure of alarm fatigue, was the average number of alerts per clinician shift. RESULTS: The software monitored 3926 hospital visits and analyzed 1,560,999 vitals signs and 16,635 laboratories. It generated 151 alerts, averaging 2.6 alerts per week. Of these, 143 (94.7%) were numerically accurate and 8 (5.3%) were inaccurate. Hypoxemia with oxygen saturation <88% was the most common etiology (92, 63%) followed by tachycardia >130 beats per minute (19, 13.3%). Among the accurate alerts, 133 (88.1%) were true positives with an associated clinical action. Actions included a change in management 113 (67.7%), new diagnostic test 26 (15.6%), change in discharge planning 20 (12.0%), and change in level of care to the intensive care unit (ICU) 8 (4.8%). As a measure of alarm fatigue, there were 0.4 alerts per clinician shift. CONCLUSIONS: In a surgical general care ward, a remote surveillance software program that continually and automatically monitors physiologic data streams from the EHR and alerts multidisciplinary providers for severe derangements provided highly actionable alarms at a rate that is unlikely to cause alarm fatigue. Such programs are feasible and could be used to change the paradigm of monitoring.

Oxygen Reserve Index: Utility as an Early Warning for Desaturation in High-Risk Surgical Patients.

BACKGROUND: Perioperative pulse oximetry hemoglobin saturation (Spo2) measurement is associated with fewer desaturation and hypoxia episodes. However, the sigmoidal nature of oxygen-hemoglobin dissociation limits the accuracy of estimation of the partial pressure of oxygen (Pao2) >80 mm Hg and correspondingly limits the ability to identify when Pao2 >80 mm Hg but falling. We hypothesized that a proxy measurement for oxygen saturation (Oxygen Reserve Index [ORI]) derived from multiwavelength pulse oximetry may allow additional warning time before critical desaturation or hypoxia. To test our hypothesis, we used a Masimo multiwavelength pulse oximeter to compare ORI and Spo2 warning times during apnea in high-risk surgical patients undergoing cardiac surgery. METHODS: This institutional review board-approved prospective study (NCT03021473) enrolled American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status III or IV patients scheduled for elective surgery with planned preinduction arterial catheter placement. In addition to standard monitors, an ORI sensor was placed and patients were monitored with a pulse oximeter displaying the ORI, a nondimensional parameter that ranges from 0 to 1. Patients were then preoxygenated until ORI plateaued. Following induction of anesthesia, mask ventilation with 100% oxygen was performed until neuromuscular blockade was established. Endotracheal intubation was accomplished using videolaryngoscopy to confirm placement. The endotracheal tube was not connected to the breathing circuit, and patients were allowed to be apneic. Ventilation was resumed when Spo2 reached 94%. We defined ORI warning time as the time from when the ORI alarm registered (based on the absolute value and the rate of change) until the Spo2 decreased to 94%. We defined the Spo2 warning time as the time for Spo2 to decrease from 97% to 94%. The added warning time provided by ORI was defined as the difference between ORI warning time and Spo2 warning time. RESULTS: Forty subjects were enrolled. Complete data for analysis were available from 37 patients. The ORI alarm registered before Spo2 decreasing to 97% in all patients. Median (interquartile range [IQR]) ORI warning time was 80.4 seconds (59.7-105.9 seconds). Median (IQR) Spo2 warning time was 29.0 seconds (20.5-41.0 seconds). The added warning time provided by ORI was 48.4 seconds (95% confidence interval [CI], 40.4-62.0 seconds; P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: In adult high-risk surgical patients, ORI provided clinically relevant added warning time of impending desaturation compared to Spo2. This additional time may allow modification of airway management, earlier calls for help, or assistance from other providers. The potential patient safety impact of such monitoring requires further study.

Comparing Activity Trackers With vs. Without Alarms to Increase Postoperative Ambulation: A Randomized Control Trial.

Early ambulation is a key component to postoperative recovery; however, measuring steps taken is often inconsistent and nonstandardized. This study aimed to determine whether an activity tracker with alarms would increase postoperative ambulation in patients after elective colorectal procedures. Forty-eight patients were randomly assigned to either trackers with 5 daily alarms or activity trackers alone. Over 223 total patient days, the trackers recorded a complete data set for 216 patient days (96.9%). Increasing the postoperative day significantly affected the number of steps taken, while age, sex, Risk Analysis Index score, and approach (laparoscopic versus open) did not show a significant effect. The mean steps per day in the intervention group were 1468 (median 495; interquartile range (IQR) 1345) and in the control group was 1645 (median 1014; IQR 2498). The use of trackers with alarms did not significantly affect the number of daily steps compared to trackers alone (ANOVA, P = .93). Although activity trackers with alarms did not increase postoperative ambulation compared with trackers with no alarms, we demonstrated a strategy to operationalize the use of trackers into postoperative care to provide a quantitative value for ambulation. This enables quantification of a key component in the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery protocol.

Kidney disease and hemodialysis: identification of blood biomarkers to detect heart failure and kidney failure / Enfermedad renal y hemodiálisis: identificación de biomarcadores sanguíneos para detectar insuficiencia cardíaca e insuficiencia renal

Abstract Objectives: to identify valid blood biomarkers to detect heart failure and kidney failure associated with kidney disease and hemodialysis Methods: systematic literature review conducted in August 2018 in the following: Web Of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Cinahal, Cochrane, Science Direct and Lilacs. The guiding question was: "What are the blood biomarkers used to detect heart failure and kidney failure?" A total of537 publications were found, 94 of these appeared more than once, 383 were excluded after reading titles and abstracts, 32 were excluded after reading the full texts, and 10 were excluded in the quantitative and qualitative synthesis. Results: 18 papers compose the final sample and report laboratory and imaging tests, instruments to assess the risk of kidney and heart failure, and also clinical management of the progression of kidney and heart failure. All the studies correlated risk of mortality and death outcome. Conclusion: laboratory tests are important to identifying kidney and heart failure and need to be used to improve clinical management of the hemodialysis treatment of people with chronic kidney disease in order to improve quality of life and life expectancy.

Evaluation of an enhanced pulse oximeter auditory display: a simulaion study.

BACKGROUND: We compared anaesthetists' ability to identify haemoglobin oxygen saturation (SpO2) levels using two auditory displays: one based on a standard pulse oximeter display (varying pitch plus alarm) and the other enhanced with additional sound properties (varying pitch plus tremolo and acoustic brightness) to differentiate SpO2 ranges. METHODS: In a counter-balanced crossover study in a simulator, 20 experienced anaesthetists supervised a junior colleague (an actor) managing two airway surgery scenarios: once while using the enhanced auditory display and once while using a standard auditory display. Participants were distracted with other tasks such as paperwork and workplace interruptions, but were required to identify when SpO2 transitioned between pre-set ranges (target, low, critical) and when other vital signs transitioned out of a target range. They also identified the range once a transition had occurred. Visual displays were available for all monitored vital signs, but the numerical value for SpO2 was excluded. RESULTS: Participants were more accurate and faster at detecting transitions to and from the target SpO2 range when using the enhanced display (100.0%, 3.3 s) than when using the standard display plus alarm (73.2%, 27.4 s) (P<0.001 and P=0.004, respectively). They were also more accurate at identifying the SpO2 range once a transition had occurred when using the enhanced display (100.0%) than when using the standard display plus alarm (57.1%; P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The enhanced auditory display helps anaesthetists judge SpO2 levels more effectively than current auditory displays and may facilitate 'eyes-free' monitoring.

Implementing barcode medication administration and smart infusion pumps is just the beginning of the safety journey to prevent administration errors.

INTRODUCTION: Healthcare-related technology has been widely accepted as a key  patient safety solution to reduce adverse drug events by decreasing the risk  of human error. The introduction of technology can enhance safety and  support workflow; however, it does not eliminate all error types and may create  new ones. Barcode medication administration and smart infusion pumps are two  technologies utilized during medication administration to prevent medication  errors before they reach the patient. OBJECTIVE: This article reviewed different error types with barcode medication administration and smart infusion pumps and examined how these errors were able to occur while using the technology. Recommendations for preventing these types of errors were also discussed. CONCLUSION: Hospitals must understand the technology, how it is designed to  work, which errors it is intended to prevent, as well as understand how it will  change staff workflow. It is essential that metrics are set by hospital leadership  and regularly monitored to ensure optimal use of these technologies. It is also  important to identify and avoid workarounds which eliminate or diminish the  safety benefits that the technology was designed to achieve. Front line staff  feedback should be gathered on a periodic basis to understand any struggles  with utilizing the technology. Leaders must also understand that even with full  implementation of technology, medication errors may still occur.

Introducción: La tecnología sanitaria se ha convertido en la solución más  aceptada para reducir los eventos adversos provocados por los medicamentos, minimizando los posibles errores humanos. La introducción de la tecnología puede mejorar la seguridad y permitir una mayor eficiencia en la clínica. Sin embargo, no elimina todos los tipos de error y puede crear otros nuevos. La administración de medicamentos con código de  barras y la utilización de bombas de infusión inteligentes son dos estrategias que  pueden emplearse durante la administración de medicamentos para evitar  errores antes de que estos lleguen al paciente.Objetivo: En este artículo se han revisado diferentes tipos de errores relativos a  la administración de medicamentos con código de barras y las bombas de  infusión inteligentes, y se ha examinado la forma en la que se producían dichos  errores al emplear la tecnología. También se exponen las recomendaciones  encaminadas a evitar este tipo de errores.Conclusión: Los hospitales deben comprender la tecnología, su funcionamiento y los errores que pretende evitar, así como analizar de qué manera cambiará los procesos clínicos. Es esencial que la dirección del hospital establezca las métricas necesarias y las monitorice regularmente para garantizar el uso óptimo de estas tecnologías. También es  importante identificar y evitar desviaciones en los procesos que puedan eliminar  o disminuir los beneficios de seguridad para los que fue diseñada. De igual forma, es necesario recopilar periódicamente las opiniones del profesional que la utiliza para detectar los posibles problemas que pudieran surgir. Sin embargo, la dirección debe ser consciente de que incluso con la implementación completa de  la tecnología pueden surgir errores a la hora de administrar la medicación.

Call Bell Usage: Tracking the Effect of Hourly Staff Rounding.

Hourly rounding by nursing staff helps to proactively manage patient needs and minimize the number of unscheduled calls from patients. The focus of this study was to determine if an increased emphasis on hourly rounding had an effect on call bell usage on an oncology unit. Patient call bell usage requests, such as asking for water or repositioning, and the total number of all alarms, such as bed exit alarms and lavatory assist alarms, decreased. Subsequent patient satisfaction surveys showed an increase in patient perception of how quickly help was received.

Endobronchial coils for emphysema: Dual mechanism of action on lobar residual volume reduction.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The RENEW trial demonstrated that bronchoscopic lung volume reduction using endobronchial coils improves quality of life, pulmonary function and exercise performance. In this post hoc analysis of RENEW, we examine the mechanism of action of endobronchial coils that drives improvement in clinical outcomes. METHODS: A total of 78 patients from the RENEW coil-treated group who were treated in one or both lobes that were deemed as the most destroyed were included in this retrospective analysis. Expiratory and inspiratory HRCT scans were used to assess lobar volume change from baseline to 12 months post coil treatment in treated and untreated lobes. RESULTS: Reduction in lobar RV in treated lobes was significantly associated with favourable clinical improvement. Independent predictor of the change in RV and FEV1 was the change in lobar RV reduction in the treated lobes and for change in 6MWD the absence of cardiac disease and the change in SGRQ, while the independent predictor of change in SGRQ was the change in 6MWD. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that residual lobar volume reduction in treated lobes measured by QCT is the driving mechanism of action of endobronchial coils leading to positive clinical outcomes. However, the improvement in exercise capacity and quality of life seems to be affected by the presence of cardiac disease.