Do mnemonics help nurses learn melodic medical equipment alarms?

We tested the melodic alarms and mnemonics proposed in the international standard for alarms used in medical electrical equipment (IEC 60601-1-8) for learnability and discriminability, with 14 registered nurses over two days, approximately a week apart. Two learning modes (Mnemonics and No Mnemonics) were examined in computer administered tests. The first experimental group was supplied with mnemonics while the second group was not supplied with a strategy. On Day 1, participants were introduced to the alarms. On Day 2, participants were tested and then allowed to relearn the alarms in a similar way to Day 1. The mean accuracy across all alarms other than the General alarm was poor (44% correct). Only one participant reached the learning criterion by the end of Day 2. Furthermore, participants with formal musical training identified the alarms with greater accuracy than those without (p=0.004). Our findings indicate that the identified problems need to be addressed before these alarms are introduced in practice.