Effect of implementing noise reduction interventions on sound levels and alarm fatigue in intensive care units

Abstract

: Background: Excessive noise is a serious issue for patients in intensive care units, and it has the potential to have a negative psychological impact on patients' prognoses. As a result, the World Health Organization advises that hospitals' noise levels should not rise above 35 dB during the day and 30 dB at night. Objective: Evaluate the effect of implementing noise reduction nursing interventions on alarm fatigue and sound levels in intensive care. Settings: The study was conducted at the Damanhur Medical National Institute's general ICUs. Subjects: For this study, a practical sample of 30 critical care nurses was used. Tools of the study: Two tools were employed to gather the information. Tool I: was the nurses’ alarm fatigue questionnaire, which was used to measure nurses' alarm fatigue. Tool II: was an assessment of nurse commitment to noise reduction interventions, which was used to assess nurses' commitment to noise reduction interventions. Results: The findings of the current study revealed that there was a statistically significant reduction in noise level before and after training the study group (P= 0.001) . Conclusion: Applying noise reduction interventions had a stronger effect on lowering the noise level score and alarm level of weariness. Recommendations : The current study advises minimizing patient exposure to noise and implementing preventative and reduction methods to battle noise in ICUs