Noisy Hospitals = Patient and Staff Distress

Noisy Hospitals Cause Alarm Fatigue and Patient Distress

A recent study from the University of Chicago revealed that hospital noise is reaching 67 decibels in some environments, which is considerably higher than the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendation of 30 decibels in the patient room. Each year, the noise level in hospitals rises by an average of 0.35 decibels. An increasing number of devices are being hooked up to monitors every year, which is creating a sea of constant beeping and numerous patient safety concerns.

When the level of noise increases in the hospital because of high-pitched alarms, a patient’s sleep is more likely to be disturbed. The beeping of patient monitors has been found to be more disruptive to patients that the sounds of human voices or environmental noises like traffic.

Every hour of sleep that is lost can cause a patient’s blood pressure to rise by up to 6 points. Even if a patient’s sleep was not disturbed, high frequency noise can still cause a patient’s heart rate to rise. Hospital noise can also cause higher rates of heart disease, impaired immune function, and increased memory problems and depression in patients.

The effects of hospital noise can lead to other complications. Using sedatives to combat the effects of the sounds could create a higher risk of patient falls. If a patient experiences a fall, he could face an extended hospital stay, causing the patient to experience the noisy environment for even longer.

Nurses and Alarm Fatigue

Nurses experience the constant beeping and high-pitched noises of the hospital on an almost daily basis. The volume (both sound- and number-wise) of alarms has made it difficult for nurses to respond or assess which patients need immediate attention, if any at all. In fact, almost 95% of alarms are said to be alerting nurses to non-actionable events including false alarms.

Alarm fatigue is becoming a growing concern in the health care environment. Because so many devices are hooked up to alarms and the noise is so frequent, nurses are becoming desensitized to the sounds of monitoring alarms. Desensitization can lead to missed alerts or a delayed response in addressing the cause of the alarm, affecting a patient’s quality of care.

Reducing hospital noise is not just an issue of comfort, but an issue of safety for patients and staff. Considering only 5% of alarms are alerting nurses to actionable events, there is little evidence to suggest that alarms should be sounding off 24/7, except when triggering actionable alerts.

There are exceptions, however, as intensive care and cardiac care units require constant patient monitoring due to the delicate nature of the unit.

Patients at risk of falling or wandering also require the use of bed-exit alarms, and are in most instances, actionable. The best solution to minimizing alarm fatigue and the annoyance of bed-exit alarms is to implement an alarm that automatically resets when a patient repositions or gets back into bed.

By silencing and reinstating the alarm without nurse intervention, noise levels can be reduced and false alarms can be eliminated.

Curbing the noise level can help patients rest and recover in the hospital without fearing noise-related adverse effects like insomnia or heart complications. Nurses can benefit from a focused work environment without the distraction of unnecessary beeping and alarms. Reducing the noise level by limiting the number of alarms can help hospitals meet the 30 decibel range suggested by the WHO.

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CHG Hospital Beds specializes in low hospital beds that are designed to prevent patient falls and related injuries within acute care environments. We are focused on patient and nurse safety and deliver innovative solutions to meet the needs of our customers.

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The Evolution of the Low Hospital Bed

The Evolution of the Low Hospital Bed

Today’s low hospital beds offer patients comfort and peace of mind, while providing a safe working environment for nurses and staff. But it wasn’t always this way…

The low bed movement sprang up in response to the increase in the number of patient falls from bed in various health care environments. Patients who fall from bed often experience a decreased quality of life as a result of injury and trauma. Treatment for injuries from patient falls can be lengthy and costly, and are often at the facility’s expense.

Long-term care facilities, the pioneers of the low bed movement, saw that the height of the bed itself was an important variable in patient falls. Patients often did not feel secure when sleeping and could not easily get in and out of beds that were too high, which resulted in falls from the bed. The lowest position of regular hospital beds and long-term care beds ranged from 18-22” in height, which was much higher than what a patient was used to at home. Elderly, confused, and medicated patients were much more likely to fall and get seriously injured at these heights.

The first solution to patient falls from bed was to place the mattress on the floor. Though the mattress did effectively reduce falls and patient injuries, mattresses on the floor raised concerns for infection control, staff safety, and quality of life for patients.

Recognizing that using a mattress on the floor was not a sustainable solution for patient falls, nursing home equipment manufacturers set out to create the low bed, and so began the low bed movement.

Years later, after the success of low beds in long-term care facilities, CHG Hospital Beds launched the world’s first low hospital bed.

The Evolution of the Low Hospital Bed

Nursing Home Beds
Fixed Low Height Bed (Echo)	·         The answer to long-term care facilities’ low bed needs ·         Replaced the mattress on the floor ·         The fixed height was still much too low for nurses to safely transfer patients
Solo	·         North America’s first electric low bed, introduced in 1997 ·         Allowed fall-prone patients to rest at a safe height of 7.5” ·         Nurses and staff were able to raise the bed to a working height of up to 25” to reduce back strain ·         Only mobile at its lowest height, which still caused staff injuries
Arro	·         Replaced the Solo as North America’s lowest bed with a low height of 6.75” in 2000 ·         Rose to as high as 33” and was built with staff safety in mind ·         Now mobile in any position ·         Introduced hospital-like advanced features to low beds, including Trendelenberg and footboard staff control panels
Hospital Beds
Spirit	·         First low hospital bed, introduced in 2003 ·         Offered all the same features as traditional hospital beds, but with the added benefit of a low height of 8.75” from the floor ·         Featured a 15-function staff control panel and a central braking and steering pedals for nurse safety ·         Ideal for patients at risk of falls ·         Can be used as a traditional bed in regular acute care patient rooms
Spirit Plus	·         First med-surg low hospital bed, introduced in 2005 ·         Features the same low height as the Spirit, at 8.75” low ·         Exceeds the features of traditional hospital beds with embedded anti-bacterial properties, auto-contour and chair positioning and more ·         Passes all FDA entrapment guidelines
Spirit Select	·         The most advanced med-surg low hospital bed on the market, launched in 2008 ·         Height range from 10” to 35” ·         Offers the same features of the Spirit Plus and more ·         Features an integrated scale, Watchdog Monitoring System, and multi-zone bed-exit alarm ·         Central lock-and-steer system for safe patient handling

 

Low hospital beds have come a long way from the mattress on the floor. With a focus on patient and staff safety, low hospital beds will continue to innovate and evolve, forever changing the way health care facilities address falls

CHG Hospital Beds specializes in low hospital beds that are designed to prevent patient falls and related injuries within acute care environments. We are focused on patient and nurse safety and deliver innovative solutions to meet the needs of our customers.