What Is IView?

IView is an innovative mobile app that will allow nurses to be able to link their patient’s IV infusion pumps to send direct alarm notifications to their assigned phones. This app will aid nurses in reducing hospital distress that is caused by the frequent alarms in patient rooms. Moreover, our goal with IView is to promote quality improvement by addressing the problem of alarm fatigue.

Why are we Creating it?

During our clinical experience at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital, a problem that we identified is the continuous beeping of the IV infusion pumps’ alarms within the patients’ rooms. At the hospital patients share rooms in the Med Surg and DOU floors. Our goal with creating this app is to promote healing, rest, and recovery by reducing the noise that is created by medical equipment. These alarms that patients hear negatively affect their physiological and psychological states.

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What's our Evidence?

Quiet Time

As reported by the World Health Organization, 40 decibels of noise should not be exceeded at the hospital (Stafford & Haverland, 2014).

However, hospitals can exceed this number, some units such as the ICU registering sound levels as high as 101 decibels. IV pumps alone can reach up to 73 to 78 decibels (Lawson et al, 2010, p. 89)

Research has demonstrated that 72% to 99% of clinical alarms are false. The high number of false alarms has led to alarm fatigue. Patient safety and regulatory agencies have focused on the issue of alarm fatigue, and it is a 2014 Joint Commission National Patient Safety Goal. (Sendelbach & Funk, 2013).

Alarm Fatigue

“Alarm fatigue occurs when staff members are exposed to a large number of alarms causing sensory overload leading to slow or non-existent response to alarms. Desensitization causes staff members to become complacent about alarms, which can impact patient safety, potentially leading to life-threatening patient events” (Cvach, 2012).

Hospital Policy: Housewide Alarm Management

This policy places high emphasis on a rule called the “No Pass Zone,” which highlights that “all employees react immediately when any alarm or call light is sounding” (Henry Mayo Hospital, 2016, p.2). By implementing this policy, it establishes a qualitative level of care that employees are supposed to uphold in order to eliminate any unnecessary nuisance, and/or alarm signals. (Henry Mayo Hospital, 2016, p.2).