Reduction of noise levels in intensive care units for infants: evaluation of an intervention program

Abstract

Objective: To investigate whether educational information for nurses concerning causes of noise would decrease noise levels in an intensive care unit for term newborns and infants.

Design: Pretest and posttest.

Setting: Children's surgical ward in a university hospital in southern Sweden.

Subjects: Fifty-two nurses in the surgical ward.

Outcome measures: Noise levels.

Intervention: An educational program consisting of a presentation of a videotape, presentation of the decibel values for various care activities, and a discussion of the problem.

Results: Statistical analysis with a paired two-tailed t test showed significant differences to exist between measurements in a cot and an incubator before the intervention (p = 0.0001), and between cot measurements before and after the intervention program (p = 0.0007).

Conclusions: The results of this study show that through simple methods and without additional costs, and by making the staff aware of the problem, noise levels can be lowered considerably.