Reducing False Alarms in Intensive Care Units: A Scoping Review

Background and objectivesExcessive false alarms in intensive care units (ICU) cause noise disturbance to patients and develop alarm fatigue among nurses, leading to safety concerns and decreased patient care quality. Evidence-based false alarm reduction strategies are urgently needed in the day-to-day clinical practice. This review aims to synthesize two main human-technology approaches to reduce false alarms generated by the physiologic monitor: customization of alarm settings by nurses and alarm algorithms.