Drowning in Alerts? Let’s Talk About Alarm Fatigue (And What to Do About It)

"Honestly, I hear more beeps than words during my shift."

That's what a nurse shared with me recently, and I knew exactly what she meant. Between EHR pop-ups, monitor alarms, pharmacy notifications, and all the other digital interruptions, it's easy to feel like you're working in a constant state of alert. And the reality is, most of it isn't even urgent.

If you've ever dismissed a pop-up or silenced an alarm just to focus on your patient, you're not alone, and you're not being negligent. You're likely just overloaded by a system that demands too much attention, too often.

What Exactly Is Alarm Fatigue?

Alarm fatigue happens when healthcare professionals are exposed to so many alerts that they begin to tune them out or simply can't respond quickly enough when something significant happens.

In some units, studies have shown that up to 99% of alarms are either false or not clinically meaningful. That means thousands of alerts can go off in a single day, constantly pulling your attention while you're trying to care for real people with real needs.

This isn't just frustrating. Over time, it can become a serious risk to patient safety.

Why This Matters Now More Than Ever

Alarm fatigue is more than just an inconvenience. It can cause real harm. When alerts are nonstop, it becomes harder to recognize the ones that actually signal danger.

This can result in:

• Delays in responding to actual emergencies

• Missed changes in a patient's condition

• Rising stress levels across the care team

• Patients who struggle to sleep and begin to lose trust in their care

And the most frustrating part? These alerts are meant to help. They are designed to protect patients. But without better systems to manage them, they often add more pressure instead of supporting the people providing care.

Three Ways to Make Alerts Work for You, Not Against You

Some teams are starting to rethink how alerts show up in their day-to-day routines, and they're finding ways to make them helpful again.

1. Rethink the Default Settings

 Not every alert is necessary. The first step is to ask,

Is this alert helping, or is it just creating more noise?

 Take time to review which alarms are truly important for your patients. Adjust thresholds where appropriate. Turn off alerts that add little value. Most importantly, involve the people using the system in these decisions. When teams have a voice in how alerts are set, the system becomes safer and more effective.

2. Organize and Prioritize Your Alerts

 Think of alerts the same way you think of triage. Not every change needs an immediate response. Some alerts can be delayed, some grouped together, and others directed to different team members depending on their role.

 When alerts are organized this way, the most important ones stand out, and the ones with lower urgency no longer interrupt your focus every few minutes.

3. Make Alert Hygiene Part of Everyday Practice

 We already teach hand hygiene. So why not do the same for alert hygiene?

 Include it during onboarding and revisit it during safety huddles. Make sure your team understands:

• When an alert needs immediate attention

• When it's okay to pause and take a closer look

• How to adjust alert settings without putting safety at risk

Let's Call This What It Is: A Quality Issue

Alarm fatigue is not just a technology problem. At its core, it is a quality issue—one that affects how safe our systems truly are and how supported our teams feel in their daily work. When clinicians are overwhelmed by constant alerts, it becomes harder to think clearly, prioritize care, and stay focused on the patient in front of them. Instead of helping, the tools that were meant to support us end up creating more noise, more stress, and more risk.

The good news is that alarm fatigue is not permanent. It can be addressed. And the first step is to recognize it for what it is: a challenge rooted in system design, communication, and quality management. When we approach it that way, we open the door to meaningful, lasting solutions that improve the care environment for both patients and professionals.

A Final Thought

Every healthcare professional deserves to work in a space where the tools are aligned with the mission of safe, focused, and effective care. The systems we use should highlight what matters most, filter out what doesn't, and allow us to bring our full attention to our patients. When alerts are well-designed, they provide clarity. When they are not, they create distraction and frustration.

If your team feels buried in alerts, it might be time for a reset—not just a technical one, but a quality-driven one. Now is the moment to step back and ask: Are our systems supporting excellence, or standing in its way?

At QualityMed Academy, we believe that quality improvement should feel practical, achievable, and rooted in the realities of clinical care.

Follow @QualityMedAcademy and discover how improving care can be simple and doable.