Healthcare premises: reflections on sound by hospital staff Children crying. Alarms beeping. Verbal communication. Footsteps. Healthcare premises are often complex sound environments and the cognitive load on staff is getting more and more challenging. Despite this, nurses and doctors rarely complain if the acoustics are not suitable for the activities – because their number one […]
stress
Communication a key issue in Emergency units
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 […]
Five ways noise impact the patient experience
Effects of noise 1) SLEEP DISRUPTION: For a good night’s sleep, continuous background noise should not exceed 30 dB, and individual noise events exceeding 45 dB should be avoided (1). Average nighttime noise levels in hospitals are over 60 dB (2). 2) FEELINGS OF HELPLESSNESS: Sounds from neighboring patients and from advanced medical treatments and […]
Emotional stress may affect sound perception
(photo by Camilla Svensk) A fresh article by researchers including Dan Hasson (picture) at Karolinska Institute and the Stress Research Institute in Stockholm, Sweden concludes that emotional exhaustion in women affects their sound perception in a negative way. The sample of subjects were taken from SLOSH (Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health) and followed up […]
