At Sandwell General Hospital in Birmingham, England, replacing the old, reflective ceiling with a highly sound-absorbent Class A ceiling has reduced noise levels in the corridors of Priory Ward 4 by half. Acoustics “A major improvement,” according to Andrew Parkin, an acoustics expert at Cundall, a consulting firm. See the sound propagation animation below. Noise […]
sleep
Common hospital sounds affect patients’ sleep phases
An American study has looked more closely at the effects of typical hospital sounds on sleep. Sleep phases Different hospital sounds were played at sound levels varying from 40 dB to 70 dB and during different sleep phases. The probability of arousal varied with sound type, sound level, and sleep phase. Less surprising higher sound […]
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 […]
Too noisy to sleep? Let the hospital know
Nighttime noise can be devastating and too noisy to recover during a hospital stay. Silent Hospitals Help Healing Through its Silent Hospitals Help Healing Committee, the Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix is making a conscious effort to improve the sound situation in the hospital by involving the patients. By sending “noise alerts” when […]
Patients risk sleep problems from noise in Critical Care units
Critical care unit (CCU) noise may put patients at risk of sleep problems The study, by M Topf and M Bookman at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, says that technological advances in CCUs are contributing to this problem and that the results provide support for the hypothesis that critical care unit sound levels […]
Campaign to reduce noise in Neonatal Units
Reduce noise Birmingham Women’s Hospital NHS Trust took part in a regional campaign to raise awareness of noise levels in Neonatal Units and the need to reduce noise. Led by Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Cheryl Lewis, the campaign highlighted the impact noise can have on babies. It included staff training, posters, badges, and the use […]
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 […]
Every decibel counts!
I am Tobias Angelbeck, Concept Developer for Acoustics in Health Care Premises, Ecophon Germany. I talked to Dr. Jo Solet – the Clinical Instructor at the Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, Cambridge, MA (USA). Decibel counts Right now she and her department are doing two pieces of research. One on a behavioral research project […]
AP quotes Ecophon study on acoustics in healthcare
Roger Ulrich, an authority in healthcare design, was recently interviewed on the issue of hospital noise by the news agency AP. Ulrich is a professor of architecture at Texas A&M; University and visiting professor at University College in London. In that interview, he highlights the seriousness of this question by referring to a major study […]
Room acoustics’ influence on sleep
Unwanted sound (noise) has been documented to be a serious problem for hospitalized patients. In some cases, different forms of intensive care noise levels can reach levels that are above what is advisable from a health and safety perspective (work environment perspective). In many hospitals, noise levels are not a threat to healthy people and […]
