1. The Influence of Quiet Kits on Reducing Night Noise and Improving
the Patient Experience on Daly 3B at Baystate Medical Center
Robin Pelletier, BSN; Michael Bruneau Jr., MS; Brigid Gildea, BSN; Therese Leab, PCT; Kimberly Dziel, RN
Patient satisfaction was measured using the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey, an 18-item instrument with higher scores indicating better patient satisfaction.
Mean patient satisfaction scores for “Quiet” on D3B were compared pre-intervention (Jan-March, 2015) and post-intervention (April-June, 2015).
Introduction
Conclusions
Night noise from telemetry monitors, call bells, phones, door bells, and televisions are major contributors of sleep disturbance in hospital settings.
Sleep disturbances have been shown to impose both physical and psychological stressors on patients that include an increased incidence of: hypertension; perceived pain, anxiety, and stress; learned helplessness; and communication errors between hospital staff.1
Patients on D3B are situated in bays that are separated by curtains, which are ineffective barriers to noise disturbances.
The experience and recovery of patients admitted to D3B has been impacted by night noise as evidenced by poor patient satisfaction scores.
The integration and use of noise reduction strategies are therefore warranted.2-3
Using quiet kits reduced night noise and increased patient satisfaction on D3B.
Our findings indicate that quiet kits should be integrated into all hospital settings to reduce night noise and enhance patient healing.
Future research efforts should be directed towards replicating our findings and exploring clinical determinants of sleep disturbance among a larger sample of surveyed patients.
Results
Seventy-five (75) patients admitted to D3B were interviewed with the HCAHPS survey > 48 hours post discharge between January and June of 2015.
HCAHPS quiet satisfaction scores on D3B increased 17.52% pre- to post-intervention.
References
1. Dean E. Quiet please, for our health's sake. Nurs Stand. 2014;29(1): doi: /ns s26
2. Konkani A, Oakley B, Bauld TJ. Reducing hospital noise: a review of medical device alarm management. Biomed Instrum Technol. 2012;46(6): doi: /
3. Mazer SE. Creating a culture of safety: reducing hospital noise. Biomed Instrum Technol. 2012;46(5): doi: /
Objective
To determine if implementing the use of quiets kits can reduce night noise and enhance the experience of patients admitted to Daly 3B (D3B) at Baystate Health.
Acknowledgments
Methods
We thank the patients of D3B for participating in the survey interviews used to conduct this study.
D3B is a 32-bay outpatient observation, infusion, and medical daystay adult unit at Baystate Medical Center.
Quiet Kits, consisting of ear plugs, headphones, and a satin eye mask, were provided to all patients admitted to D3B from April through June, 2015.