An investigation of the relationship between alarm and compassion fatigue in surgical intensive care nurses: a cross-sectional study.

Abstract

Background: Particularly, the medical devices utilized in specialized units such as intensive care units, along with their associated alarm sounds, can potentially induce compassion fatigue among nursing professionals. This study was planned to investigate the relationship between alarm and compassion fatigue in nurses working in surgical intensive care units.

Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional correlational study (July-August 2024) surveyed 162 surgical ICU nurses from a university and a state hospital in eastern Türkiye. Using a proportionally stratified, consecutive (non-probability) sampling strategy, the team approached every on-duty nurse meeting inclusion criteria (≥ 1 year SICU experience), achieving an 85.7% response rate (*N* = 162; G*Power-derived minimum *n* = 151). Researchers collected data via face-to-face interviews using a 14-item Demographic Form, the 10-item Alarm Fatigue Scale (α = 0.77), and the 13-item Compassion Fatigue Short Scale (α = 0.91). After ethical approval and informed consent, responses were analysed in SPSS 27.0: normality (Kolmogorov-Smirnov, skewness/kurtosis), descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations (*with Cohen's effect sizes), and multivariate linear regression (adjusting for (covariates)), with reliability assessed via Cronbach's α; significance was set at *p* < 0.05. Missing data (< 5%) were excluded listwise.

Results: The mean alarm fatigue score of surgical intensive care nurses was 23.77 ± 7.26 and the mean compassion fatigue score was 62.82 ± 26.66. A moderate positive significant relationship was found between alarm fatigue and compassion fatigue (r = 0.302, p < 0.01). Regression analysis showed that alarm fatigue predicted compassion fatigue by 9% (R²=0.091, p < 0.05). No significant correlation was found between sociodemographic factors and alarm and compassion fatigue levels.

Conclusions: Alarm fatigue was found to be an important determinant of compassion fatigue. Nurses were found to have moderate levels of alarm and compassion fatigue. This may negatively affect nurses' quality of patient care and job satisfaction. It is recommended that healthcare organizations increase alarm management training and prioritize strategies that support nurses' well-being. These steps can improve patient care outcomes by reducing nurses workload.