Sound environments – hospitals are noisy Often very noisy. Hardly ever even close to the maximum limit of 35 dB set by the World Health Organization (WHO) that would be considered a healing sound environment. Both patients and staff can be adversely affected by this noisy sound environment. The growing number of technological devices, an […]
ICU
Five ways noise impact the patient experience
Effects of noise 1) SLEEP DISRUPTION: For a good night’s sleep, continuous background noise should not exceed 30 dB, and individual noise events exceeding 45 dB should be avoided (1). Average nighttime noise levels in hospitals are over 60 dB (2). 2) FEELINGS OF HELPLESSNESS: Sounds from neighboring patients and from advanced medical treatments and […]
Being critically ill and surrounded by noise – doctoral thesis
On November 21st Lotta Johansson of Gothenburg university defended her doctoral thesis at the Ph.D. disputation held at Academic. The title of the thesis is “Being critically ill and surrounded by sound and noise. Patient experiences, staff awareness and future challenges“. The aim of the thesis was to show how critically ill patients experience sound […]
Critically ill in the sound intensive ICU
The conception that critically ill patients are too ill to reflect on their sound environment in the intensive care unit needs to be revised. This was one of the conclusions Swedish researchers made in a qualitative study on patient experiences of their stay in intensive care. Patients gave vivid descriptions of how they both felt […]
Sleep in the ICU – review of current knowledge
A new article on the current knowledge of sleep disturbances in the ICU was featured in the latest issue of Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavia. Sleep disturbances in the ICU environment are a significant problem and have many underlying causes. However are a difficult phenomenon to observe due to the physical status of the patient group. This […]
The sound environment in ICU
A newly published study from Sweden describes the audible atmosphere of an intensive care unit patient room over a 24-hour period. The study aimed to investigate sound level data and compare patient recollection of the sound environment during the stay. The study showed that sound levels are exceeding 55dB between 70-90% of the time, which […]
ICU staff become more relaxed
“Staff really cool down in here, relaxed. The different light, the muffled sound, and the nice colors in the room affect everyone who stays here, “says ICU nurse Ann-Louise Smith. Ann-Louise works as an ICU nurse at Södra Älvborgs Hospital, where one of the ICU rooms is specially designed to create a better environment […]
Design as a medicine in an ICU
Can the design of a room lead to quicker recovery like a medicine? Design as medicine That is what is being investigated in a project at an ICU at Södra Älvsborgs hospital in Borås, Sweden. The design of the patient room includes the use of soft colors, the sound environment is being controlled by acoustic […]
The ICU patient room – a healing environment study
This year will be the start of a doctoral study to be performed at Södra Älvsborgs Sjukhus in Borås, Sweden in an ICU patient room ICU patient room The aim of the project is to study if a holistically designed patient room in a general intensive care unit affects (supports the well-being of) the occupants […]
Influence of noise on patient’s sleep
Noise levels in hospitals are typically more than 15 dB(A) higher than target values given in guidelines (for example target values from WHO and the US Environmental Protection Agency). Furthermore, noise is often one of the top complaints from staff and patients. This is concluded in a review made by Hui Xie and Jian Kang […]
