Noise in neonatology: perception of health professionals

Abstract

Background: The negative impact of noise in the newborn in neonatology units, as well as in the parents and health professionals, is known, so it is essential to raise awareness of the reduction and control of this stressor agent. Objectives: To identify the perception of health professionals about noise in neonatology. Methodology: Qualitative-quantitative and descriptive study. A non-probabilistic sample of 52 health professionals. An ad-hoc questionnaire designed for this purpose was used. Results: The majority of professionals considers neonatology units noisy and uncomfortable in performing functions and believes that noise has adverse effects, although there is little knowledge about the decibel values recommended for the neonatal unit. Conclusion: The perception of health professionals about noise indicates the need to implement a noise reduction program. We consider the training and involvement of the team relevant, so professionals can be active and inciting in the adoption of measures that promote an acoustically healthy environment for the newborn and the well-being of parents and health professionals.

Excessive Noise in Neonatal Units and the Occupational Stress Experienced by Healthcare Professionals: An Assessment of Burnout and Measurement of Cortisol Levels

“…These findings are concerning, as the recorded noise levels exceeded both Brazilian [8] and international recommendations [7] for hospitals. These results suggest that the NICU environment may potentially pose harm to both patients [34,35] and health professionals [36][37][38].…”

“…In this study, noise was perceived as an "unpleasant" factor. The discomfort caused by noise in the work environment has negative impacts on professionals' performance [10,38,51]. It is crucial to raise professionals' awareness about their contribution to noise production when implementing strategies for noise control (Disher et al, 2017;Ahamed et al, 2018;Barsam, Barbosa, et al, 2019).…”

Elevated Sound Levels in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

“…This may adversely affect not only neonatal outcomes but also HCPs working in the NICU. Silva et al 26 conducted a survey of HCPs, including nurses, physicians, physiotherapists, and technical assistants, and reported that 77% of HCPs considered the NICU too noisy. Despite this perception, the results in our study show behaviors that seemed to demonstrate a lack of awareness of what they might be doing to decrease noise; for example, behaviors such as using a loud conventional voice at the bedside, failing to promptly silence alarms, and loudly opening and closing doors.…”

Noise: the importance of silencing the loud NICU

“…Despite modern advances, the noise level within the incubator varies between 55 and 70 dB. contributing significantly to hearing insults despite theoretically providing partial protection from outside noise [38,44,52]. In addition, due to reverberance effects, the incubator amplifies the internal noise produced by the cooling fan as well as magnifies the intensity of the baby's cry.…”

“…In addition, incubators boost transmission of low frequencies (below 125 Hz) due to strong resonance [14]. Other incubator-associated activities such as closing doors generate a sound of 85 dB, placing an object on the incubator emits 90 dB, and closing the lower drawer of the incubator leads to an 89 dB level [38,44,49,52].…”