Episode 25: How Nursing Informatics and Alarm Management Reduce Fatigue and Improve Patient Outcomes

 Podcast Episode Summary   

In this CarePoints episode, host Kenny Schiff talks with Amy Clodfelter, Health Informatics Strategy & Solutions Leader at McLeod Health, about tackling alarm fatigue in hospitals. Amy shares her experience with alarm management, bed exit alerts, and the impact of nuisance alarms on patient safety and nursing workflows. They discuss real-world strategies, data-driven interventions, and socio-technical factors that shape sustainable improvements. This conversation offers practical insights for healthcare leaders, nurses, and informatics professionals focused on safer, more efficient care. 

 

This Episode’s Guests   

Amy Clodfelter 

Amy Clodfelter is a healthcare leader with over 25 years of nursing experience and 15 years in informatics. She holds a doctorate in Health Informatics and currently serves as Health Informatics Strategy & Solutions Leader at McLeod Health, where she drives telehealth, alarm management, and workflow optimization. Her work focuses on reducing alarm fatigue, improving patient safety, and implementing data-driven interventions that maintain fall prevention while minimizing nuisance alerts. 

Clodfelter, Amy D. “Improving Alarm Management Practices.” CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 28 May 2025, https://doi.org/10.1097/cin.0000000000001324. 

Improving Alarm Management Practices Wireless Bed Exit Alerts on Medical-Surgical Units: https://journals.lww.com/cinjournal/fulltext/2025/08000/improving_alarm_management_practices__wireless_bed.6.aspx 

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Key Takeaways   

• Frequent, non-actionable alerts overwhelm clinicians, slowing response times, and risking missed critical events. Nuisance alarms, false positives, and generic thresholds are major contributors. 

• Effective strategies require thoughtful workflow design, targeted escalation for bed exit alerts, and socio-technical approaches that consider people, processes, policies, and technology.  

• Collecting and analyzing alarm data enables informed changes without compromising safety. Success depends on frontline engagement, governance, and executive sponsorship for sustainable improvements.  

• Emerging technologies like AI, predictive analytics, and telehealth promise smarter alarm customization and extended practices for remote patient care. 

 

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CarePoints with Kenny Schiff by Lone Star Communications is a series of conversations with his collaborators at Lone Star, customers, partners, and notable folks in the healthcare and educational technology industries. For over 33 years, Lone Star Communications has been focused on transforming healthcare and education through innovation.