Publications by authors named "Nicole Ruettgers"
Article Synopsis
- Elevated noise levels in intensive care units can harm both patient and staff health, prompting this study to investigate sound sources and their impact.
- Researchers conducted a week-long observational study in a mixed medical-surgical ICU, measuring sound levels using sound meters and noting sources of noise during various shifts.
- Results showed daytime and evening shifts had significantly higher sound levels compared to night shifts, with cleaning, admissions/discharges, and renal interventions being the main contributors to the overall noise.
Purpose: The noise levels in intensive care units have been repeatedly reported to exceed the recommended guidelines and yield negative health outcomes among healthcare professionals. However, it is unclear which sound sources within this environment are perceived as disturbing. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate how healthcare professionals in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria perceive the sound levels and the associated sound sources within their work environment and explore sound reduction strategies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Despite many studies in the field examining excessive noise in the intensive care unit, this issue remains an ongoing problem. A limiting factor in the progress of the field is the inability to draw conclusions across studies due to the different and poorly reported approaches used. Therefore, the first goal is to present a method for the general measurement of sound pressure levels and sound sources, with precise details and reasoning, such that future studies can use these procedures as a guideline.
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