1502 Admissions to a low-resource neonatal unit in Malawi using a mobile app and dashboard: a one year digital perinatal outcome audit

Abstract

moments like nursing handovers and ward rounds were noted to be the loudest periods, with a range of 65 to 70 dB.The questionnaires reflect that although staff members have some knowledge on noise levels and their impact on the newborn, education on the effect of noise in ambience around preterm can be helpful.On the subject of the permissible loudness, 53.3% of staff answered 55dB, most of the participants were unsure. Regarding the level of noise at which babies start experiencing pain, 60% answered more than 90dB, and 13.3% answered more than 200dB. Handovers and conversations in the unit were noted to have a physiological and psychological effect on the neonates as evidenced by previous studies and suggestions were made to reduce the noise by altering alarm volumes, adding visual aids, and educating staff and parents Conclusions We conclude that the loudness of noise has adverse effects on the quality of care of newborns. Guidelines to regulate the noise intensity should be followed to ensure the best of care to growing preterms. Moving forward, our intended actions would be: to educate staff and parents on this topic, obtain a certified device to monitor the noise level, alter the environmental factors influencing the increase in noise and use visual aids to help reduce the noise in our unit thus protecting the newborn babies from harmful noise exposure.