Communication Stress levels run high in the emergency department. Mistakes are unacceptable. Patients’ lives depend on the skill and focus of the emergency medical team. Clear, precise communication is invaluable, so the University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein in Lübeck, Germany, decided to create the optimum conditions for it. Patients’ lives depend on the skill and focus […]
hospital noise
Generative space design in healthcare
Space design Fiona de Vos works with hospitals, nursing homes, mental healthcare facilities and other healthcare organizations to define strategic objectives and design goals from the perspective of evidence-based space design and a healing environment. She is the expert teaching this course at the University of Amsterdam. And also the founder of Studio dVO, a consulting and research firm […]
Effects of noise and stress to nurses
Nurses Pernilla Svensson is a registered nurse in Klippan, near Helsingborg in southern Sweden. For the past 20 years, she has worked in a variety of hospital settings. ECO for Sustainable Design filmed her sharing some of her experiences regarding the working environment in the healthcare sector. Without much previous reflection on noise and the […]
Acoustic intervention at St. Marien-Krankenhaus Siegen Hospital
Acoustic intervention by Ingrid Fuchs (Concept Developer Healthcare Environments at Ecophon Germany) and Dr. Martin Schmelling (Specialist in Anesthetics, St.Marys Hospital) In July 2014 an optimization and acoustic intervention started in the pre-located areas of the OR (pre-op and post-op patient areas) at the St. Marien Hospital in Siegen, Germany. It has been a challenge […]
Activity noise level halved in Birmingham ward
At Sandwell General Hospital in Birmingham, England, replacing the old, reflective ceiling with a highly sound-absorbent Class A ceiling has reduced noise levels in the corridors of Priory Ward 4 by half. Acoustics “A major improvement,” according to Andrew Parkin, an acoustics expert at Cundall, a consulting firm. See the sound propagation animation below. Noise […]
Interview with Alessandro Caruso
Alessandro Caruso is a UK-based architect committed to creating healing environments for the healthcare industry. Healthcare design Alessandro Caruso’s interest in healthcare design stems from a personal experience that gave him a mission: to improve the healthcare environment for patients. Many years ago, Alessandro had a serious motorcycle accident that left him confined to bed […]
New digital Healthcare magazine
Over the past 40 years, average noise levels in hospitals have increased by a full 15 decibels (dB) reaching levels of around 70 decibels. Exceeding the World Health Organization’s recommended limit of 35 dB for a healing environment! Members of staff devote about 40 percent of their work time to communicating in one way or […]
New digital magazine about healthcare acoustics
A new digital magazine about healthcare acoustics, the ECO for Sustainable Design – Healthcare edition, has recently been released. Available via Google Play (and soon App Store), this digital publication is choc-a-bloc with case studies from the healthcare sector. It can easily be shared with friends who work in healthcare professions and others interested in […]
Impact of sound environment in healthcare settings
Watch Gunnar Öhlen, Chief Medical Officer at Karolinska University Hospital and Paul Barach, Guest professor at the University of Oslo get together to discuss the effects of a sound environment in healthcare. Gunnar tells us about overnight acoustic conditioning that was made in the trauma rooms. You can hear the difference in the video, as […]
Being critically ill and surrounded by noise – doctoral thesis
On November 21st Lotta Johansson of Gothenburg university defended her doctoral thesis at the Ph.D. disputation held at Academic. The title of the thesis is “Being critically ill and surrounded by sound and noise. Patient experiences, staff awareness and future challenges“. The aim of the thesis was to show how critically ill patients experience sound […]
