Alarms, Alerts and Notifications: A Recipe for Sensory Overload in the ICU

Activity Summary

Required reading for all learners: Implicit Bias impacts patient outcomes

ICU nurses are prone to sensory overload from work environments that place multiple demands on their visual and auditory senses. Such demands increase cognitive load, affecting nurses’ abilities to optimally execute tasks, ultimately impacting quality and safety of care. In this foundational session, we examine the impact of alarms, alerts and notifications through the lens of human factors and present case studies of interdisciplinary projects to address cognitive load at our institution.

Objectives

Describe the basic human factors principles.
Discuss the state of the science for managing critical care clinicians’ cognitive load.
Identify strategies and methods for assessing and managing impact of cognitive load.

Continuing Education Disclosure Statement

Criteria for Awarding Contact Hours

Learners must complete the entire activity and the associated evaluation AND read Implicit Bias impacts patient outcomes. No partial credit will be awarded.

Accreditation

American Association of Critical-Care Nurses is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation.
Provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider number CEP 1036, for {contactHours} contact hours.

Disclosures

The Nurse Planner has determined that no individuals with the ability to control content of this activity have relevant relationships with ineligible companies.

Activities with pharmacotherapeutic credit are to assist the APRN in fulfilling their education requirements for licensure and certification renewals.

Refund Policy

Continuing Education Activities are nonrefundable.