Cent Eur J Nurs Midw 2026, 17(1):2407-2415

Interventions to address alarm fatigue of critical care nurses – a scoping review

Moritz Stirner1, Christian Rester1, Lydia Bauernfeind1, Fritz Sterr1,2
1 Deggendorf Institute of Technology, Faculty of Applied Healthcare Sciences, Deggendorf, Germany
2 Faculty of Health, School of Nursing Science, Witten / Herdecke University, Witten, Germany

Aim:  Nurses in intensive care units are confronted with a multitude of alarms and noises every day, which can lead to alarm fatigue. Various interventions have already been investigated to reduce or prevent this. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of empirically investigated interventions to counteract alarm fatigue in critical care nurses.

Design: A scoping review.

Methods: We conducted a scoping review and carried out literature searches in Medline, Cochrane Library, and CINAHL. In addition, we performed manual searches in LIVIVO and Google Scholar, as well as citation searching. We included studies on interventions aimed at reducing existing alarm fatigue or preventing potential alarm fatigue among nurses working in intensive care units. Following title, abstract, and full-text screening, data were extracted and synthesized using an inductive approach.

Results: Seventeen studies met the inclusion criteria. The included studies were categorized into six clusters: “process interventions” (n = 8), “technological interventions” (n = 7), “training courses” (n = 7), “alarm individualization” (n = 11), “memory aids” (n = 6), and “intervention bundles” (n = 11). The investigated outcomes were divided into alarm fatigue (n = 8) and etiological factors of alarm fatigue (n = 9).

Conclusion: Current studies on interventions against alarm fatigue are heterogeneous and difficult to compare. Future research should rely on controlled experimental designs to ensure comparability between studies.

Keywords: alarm fatigue, alert fatigue, intensive care unit, monitor, noise, nursing

Received: September 26, 2025; Revised: January 16, 2026; Accepted: February 16, 2026; Published: March 6, 2026  Show citation

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Stirner M, Rester C, Bauernfeind L, Sterr F. Interventions to address alarm fatigue of critical care nurses – a scoping review. Central European Journal of Nursing and Midwifery. 2026;17(1):2407-2415.
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