Role of a Service Corridor in ICU Noise Control,Staff Stress,and Staff Satisfaction: Environmental Research of an Academic Medical Center

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To investigate the role of a dedicated service corridor in intensive care unit (ICU) noise control and staff stress and satisfaction.

BACKGROUND:

Shared corridors immediately adjacent to patient rooms are generally noisy due to a variety of activities, including service deliveries and pickups. The strategy of providing a dedicated service corridor is thought to reduce noise for patient care, but the extent to which it actually contributes to noise reduction in the patient care environment and in turn improves staff performance has not been previously documented.

METHODS:

A before-and-after comparison was conducted in an adult cardiac ICU. The ICU was relocated from a traditional hospital environment to a new addition with a dedicated service corridor. A total of 118 nursing staff participated in the surveys regarding pre-move and post-move environmental comfort, stress, and satisfaction in the previous and new units. Acoustical measures of noise within the new ICU and a control environment of the previous unit were collected during four work days, along with on-site observations of corridor traffic.

RESULTS:

Independent and paired sample t-tests of survey data showed that the perceived noise level was lower and staff reported less stress and more satisfaction in the new ICU (p < 0.01). Analyses of acoustical data confirmed that the new ICU was significantly quieter (p < 0.02). Observations revealed how the service corridor impacted patient care services and traffic.

CONCLUSIONS:

The addition of a dedicated service corridor works in the new unit for improving noise control and staff stress and satisfaction.

Keywords

Critical care/intensive care noise satisfaction staff work environment

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Aaron

J. N.

Carlisle

C. C.

Carskadon

M. A.

Meyer

T. J.

Hill

N. S.

Millman

R. P.

(1996). Environmental noise as a cause of sleep disruption in an intermediate respiratory care unit. Sleep, 19(9), 707–710.

Baker

C. F.

(1984). Sensory overload and noise in the ICU: Sources of environmental stress. Critical Care Quarterly, 6(4), 66–80.

Balogh

Kittinger

Benzer

Hackl

(1993). Noise in ICU. Intensive Care Medicine, 19, 343–346.

Berglund

Lindvall

Schwela

D. H.

(Eds.). (1999). Guidelines for Community Noise: World Health Organization.

Bharathan

Glodan

Ramesh

Vardhini

Baccash

Kiselev

(2007). What do patterns of noise in a teaching hospital and nursing home suggest? Noise & Health, 9(35), 31–34.

Blair

Dowda

Pate

Kronenfeld

Howe

H. J.

Parker

(1991). Reliability of Long-term Recall of Participation in Physical Activity by Middle-aged Men and Women. American Journal of Epidemiology, 133(3), 266–275.

Bluyssen

P. M.

(2009). The Indoor Environment Handbook: How to Make Buildings Healthy and Comfortable. London, UK Earthscan.

Blomkvist

Eriksen

C. A.

Theorell

Ulrich

Rasmanis

(2005). Acoustics and Psychosocial Environment in Intensive Coronary Care. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 62, 1–8.

Christensen

(2007). Noise levels in a general intensive care unit: A descriptive study. Nursing in Critical Care, 12(4), 188–197.

10.

EPA. (1974). Information On Levels Of Environmental Noise Requisite To Protect Public Health And Welfare With An Adequate Margin Of Safety. Washington, DC United States. Office of Noise Abatement and Control. Environmental Protection Agency.

11.

Evans

J. C.

(1995). Sleep and healing in intensive care settings. Dimens Crit Care Nurs, 14(4), 189.

12.

Fife

Rappaport

(1976). Noise and Hospital Stay. American Journal of Public Health, 66(7), 680–681.

13.

Fliege

Rose

Arck

Walter

O. B.

Kocalevent

R.-D.

Weber

(2005). The Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSQ) Reconsidered: Validation and Reference Values From Different Clinical and Healthy Adult Samples. Psychosomatic Medicine, 67, 78–88.

14.

Freedman

N. S.

Gazendam

Levan

Pack

A. I.

Schwab

R. J.

(2001). Abnormal sleep/wake cycles and the effect of environmental noise on sleep disruption in the intensive care unit. American Journal of Respiratory Critical Care Medicine, 163(2), 451–457.

15.

Grumet

G. W.

(1993). Pandemonium in the modern hospital. New England Journal of Medicine, 328(6), 433–437.

16.

Gurses

A. P.

(2007). Performance obstacles of intensive care nurses. Nurs Res, 56(3), 185.

17.

Gurses

A. P.

Carayon

(2009). Exploring performance obstacles of intensive care nurses. Applied Ergonomics, 40(3), 509–518.

18.

Hamilton

D. K.

(1999). Design for flexibility in critical care. New Horizons—The Science and Practice of Acute Medicine, 7(2), 205–217.

19.

Hilton

B. A.

(1985). Noise in acute patient care areas. Research in Nursing and Health, 8, 283–291.

20.

Hodge

Thompson

J. F.

(1990). Noise pollution in the operating theatre. Lancet, 335(891–894).

21.

Joseph

Ulrich

(2007). Sound Control for Improved Outcomes in Healthcare Settings (Publication. Retrieved from Center for Health and Design: http://www.healthdesign.org/sites/default/files/Sound%20Control.pdf

22.

Kahn

Cook

Carlisle

Nelson

Kramer

Millman

(1998). Identification and modification of environmental noise in an ICU setting. Chest, 114, 535–540.

23.

Kam

Thompson

(1994). Noise pollution in the anaesthetic and intensive care environments. Anaesthesia, 49, 982–986.

24.

Lowers

(1999). Improving Quality through the Built Environment. Quality Letter for Healthcare Leaders, 11(8), 2–9.

25.

Macedo

I. S.

Mateus

D. C.

Costa Ede

Asprino

A. C.

Lourenco

E. A.

(2009). Noise assessment in intensive care units. Revista Brasileira de Otorrinolaringologia, 75(6), 844–846.

26.

Mahmood

Chaudhury

Valente

(2011). Nurses' perceptions of how physical environment affects medication errors in acute care settings. Appl Nurs Res, 224(4), 229–237.

27.

McLeroy

K. R.

Bibeau

Steckler

Glanz

(1988). An ecological perspective on health promotion programs. Health Education Quarterly, 15, 351–377.

28.

Minckley

B. B.

(1968). A study of noise and its relationship to patient discomfort in the recovery room. Nursing Research, 17(3), 247–250.

29.

Morrison

Haas

Shaffner

Garrett

Fackler

(2003). Noise Stress and Annoyance in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. Crit. Care Med., 762(31), 113–119.

30.

Neumann

Ruga

(1995). How to Improve Your Unit's Environment. American Journal of Nursing, 95(4), 63–65.

31.

Parthasarathy

Tobin

M. J.

(2004). Sleep in the Intensive Care Unit. Intensive Care Medicine, 30(2), 197–206.

32.

Preto

V. A.

(2009). [Stress among nurses who work at the intensive care unit]. Rev Esc Enferm USP, 43(4), 841.

33.

Ryherd

E. E.

Waye

K. P.

Ljungkvist

(2008). Characterizing Noise and Perceived Work Environment in a Neurological Intensive Care Unit. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 123(2), 747–756.

34.

Schnelle

J. F.

Ouslander

J. G.

Simmons

S. F.

Alessi

C. A.

Gravel

M. D.

(1993). The nighttime environment, incontinence care, and sleep disruption in nursing homes. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 41(9), 910–914.

35.

Sengpielaudio. (2012). Decibel Table — SPL — Loudness Comparison Chart (Publication. Retrieved May 3, 2012: http://www.sengpielaudio.com/TableOfSoundPressureLevels.htm

36.

Seo

Choi

Zimring

(2011). Impact of Hospital Unit Design for Patient-Centered Care on Nurses' Behavior. Environment & Behavior, 43(4), 443–468.

37.

Shepley

M. M.

Davies

(2003). Nursing unit configuration and its relationship to noise and nurse walking behavior: An AIDS/HIV unit case study. (Publication. Retrieved November 17, 2006, from American Institute of Architects, Academy of Architeture for Health: http://www.aia.org/aah_a_jrnl_0401_article4

38.

Short

A. E.

Short

K. T.

Holdgate

Ahern

Morris

(2011). Noise levels in an Australian Emergency Department. Australasian Emergency Nursing Journal, 2011(14), 26–31.

39.

Slattery

Jacobs

D. J.

(1995). Assessment of Ability to Recall Physical Activity of Several Years Ago. Annals of Epidemiology, 5(4), 292–296.

40.

Stokols

(1992). Establishing and Maintaining Healthy Environments. American Psychologist, 47(1), 6–22.

41.

Topf

(1988). Noise-induced Occupational Stress and Health in Critical Care Nurses. Hosp. Top., 66(1), 30–34.

42.

WHO. (2002). Community Noise Environmental Health Criteria Document, External Review Draft. Geneva World Health Organisation Publishing.

43.

Zborowsky

Bunker-Hellmich

Morelli

O'Neill

(2010). Centralized vs. decentralized nursing stations: Effects on nurses' functional use of space and work environment. Health Environments Research & Design Journal, 3(4), 19–42.

44.

Zimring

Joseph

Nicoll

G. L.

Tsepas

(2005). Influences of Building Design and Site Design on Physical Activity, Research and Intervention Opportunities. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 28(2S2), 186–193.

45.

Wang

Downs

Farell

Cook

Hourihan

& McCreery

(2013). Role of a service corridor in ICU noise control, staff stress, and staff satisfaction. Health Environments Research & Design Journal 6(3), pp. 80–94.

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.27 MB