• General , Healthcare ,
• 30 Mar

Consider these factors as you assess sound masking solutions.

• Quiet hospital environments are a challenging issue.
• Noise ranks as a top-five complaint among hospital patients.
• The World Health Organization recommends that noise not exceed 35 dB, many studies conducted in hospitals have found average background noise ranges between 45 dB and 68 dB, peaking at more than 90 dB.”
• Noise control can be even more important now that the Affordable Care Act has mandated that reimbursement for hospital services be based, in part, on patient satisfaction surveys.
• Noise in general is an “abstraction” that even newer hospitals find difficult to define and mitigate.
• Excessive noise not only hindered the ability for patients to rest, but raised the risk for medical errors.
• It’s a boon in healthcare environments, where the costs of implementing recent HIPAA speech privacy laws can be extensive. That includes concern over conversations between patients and caregivers in exam rooms, doctors’ offices and patient treatment areas—and with administrators during patient registration and billing.
• Whether it’s persistent alarms, buzzing equipment, traffic in the corridors, or staff conversations, excessive noise can negatively impact healing—and a hospital’s bottom line.
• “Considerable evidence has shown that pervasive noise elevates psychological and physiological stress in patients, elevating blood pressure, heart rates, and perception of pain,”
• Nurses’ stations are also often sources of noise. It’s important to provide staff with spaces where they’re able to meet and collaborate, and that are acoustically separated from patient areas, such as closed offstage rooms and staff lounges.
• Ultimately, the rapidly changing healthcare scene—driven by uncertainties with healthcare reform in the wake of a new Republican administration, evolving HIPAA regulations, and advancing technology—will surely impact how care is delivered and how acoustics comes into play in healthcare design
• Noise abatement strategies need to take into account that hospitals have many rooms with different noise characteristics, Patient floors are usually organized around bustling nurses’ stations. MRI rooms are particularly sensitive to vibration through floors and walls. Operating rooms require 20 air exchanges per hour. Lobbies, waiting rooms, examination and emergency rooms where privacy is paramount. Many larger, regional hospitals have helipads: their chopper noise must be kept from entering the building.
• It is useful to consider the type of noise source. “The trick is to take a different look at these noise sources and develop more efficient methods in reducing disturbance to patients.”
• Medical technology has become a new noise source that has “overwhelmed” the hospital environment. “electronic sounds” were more arousing than others. “If these noises bothered a dozen healthy people, you can bet they are bothering people who are patients,”
• Other studies blamed hospital noise for a possible increase in healing time and a contributing factor in stress-related burnout among healthcare workers
• Contributing to the problem, experts say, are the materials used in hospitals. Because they must be easily sanitized, surfaces cannot be porous where they could harbor disease-causing organisms.
• Besides patient sleep deprivation, which itself can lead to a multitude of health problems including high blood sugar, high blood pressure and fatigue, studies have reported that elevated noise levels can increase heart and respiratory rates, blood pressure and cortisol levels. Recovery room noise causes patients to request more pain medication, and preterm infants “are at increased risk for hearing loss, abnormal brain and sensory development, and speech and language problems when exposed to prolonged and excessive noise” (Deardorff, 2011).

Benefits of white noise soundproofing vs construction

• Can be zoned to treat specific problem areas and that these zones are invisible.
• No awkward walls are added, carpeting or absorbent paneling is not necessary
• Facility managers can install the systems themselves in a matter of hours