Yacker Tracker in the NICU ???

[Bezoars]

So they just put one of these things on our unit. It's like a stoplight that goes yellow to red when there is too much noise. We are a small NICU unit. Seriously? I'm pretty insulted to be treated like a child. I tend to pick my battles wisely but this is just too much.

What do you think about the Yacker Tracker?

[video=youtube_share;WyssV2MQsps]

[JerseyTomatoMDCrab, BSN]

We have one at my PRN job and had one at my first hospital job on m/s as well. Another pointless tool used by management to attempt to cater to unrealistic complaints from patients and staff. I heard my managers mentioning the "sound stop light" to patients and families, touting it as "yet another measure we have in place to ensure patients are as comfortable as possible while in the hospital." And then, with the tube system clanking, the IVs beeping, the tele alarms going off and poor granny getting no sleep, I would have complaints from family members "I thought you were trying to be quiet for the patients!!!"

[AliNajaCat]

When I had ICU orientees one of the first experiential exercises I had them do was sit just outside their patients' open doors (it was a converted m/s unit and there were actual doors on the single and 2-bed rooms) and write down every sound they heard for five minutes. Just five minutes. ...

phones ringing

suction

conversation

portable x-ray driver

floor-waxing Zamboni-equivalent

beepers

call lights

vents, IPPB

beds and stretchers

CSR carts

monitors, pumps

bubbling Pleurevacs

trash cans being emptied

laundry cart

breakfast trays

slamming metal charts

Most of it we didn't even register, but as they were not familiar background noises to the orientees-- and certainly the patients-- it made quite an impact. The combination of sensory overload (all of the above plus pain, tubes and wires, lights, intrusive touch...) and comcomitant sensory deprivation (no normal clothing, same bed all the time, no normal interpersonal touching, no normal food, no fresh air or change of scenery...) was what made people crazy.

[susummers1]

Don't be insulted. I have worked in hospitals that have them and they never really were perceived as a big issue. It helped remind us and visitors to be quiet. Most facilities are probably doing it because quiet environment is an HCAHPS question. I would think that you can't be the only unit in your facility that got one, if you are then be insulted.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

When I had ICU orientees one of the first experiential exercises I had them do was sit just outside their patients' open doors (it was a converted m/s unit and there were actual doors on the single and 2-bed rooms) and write down every sound they heard for five minutes. Just five minutes. ...

phones ringing

suction

conversation

portable x-ray driver

floor-waxing Zamboni-equivalent

beepers

call lights

vents, IPPB

beds and stretchers

CSR carts

monitors, pumps

bubbling Pleurevacs

trash cans being emptied

laundry cart

breakfast trays

slamming metal charts

Most of it we didn't even register, but as they were not familiar background noises to the orientees-- and certainly the patients-- it made quite an impact. The combination of sensory overload (all of the above plus pain, tubes and wires, lights, intrusive touch...) and comcomitant sensory deprivation (no normal clothing, same bed all the time, no normal interpersonal touching, no normal food, no fresh air or change of scenery...) was what made people crazy.

What a great exercise! I'm sure it made an impression.

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

Wow, this is supposed to be used in classrooms, not in a workplace of adults!

Just wow.

I don't think they're worried about the volume of the work place of adults. I think they're worried about the volume of the healing place of patients.

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

I kinda like the idea of this. I really hate noise and it ruins my concentration when there's too much noise, plus it's awful for the patients. I always worked hard to keep the noise levels down in the ICU at night so that patients could sleep. There are quite a few studies related to ICU psychosis and noise levels related to patients not getting ample sleep.

My own personal pet peeve though is constant alarms that are ignored by nurses. I just can't understand that if your HR alarm is set at 100 and your patient's HR is 101 why you would just let that ring and ring. If they're known to be slightly tachy and are stable change your parameters slightly so that when something does go wrong someone might actually pay attention. It makes me batty! Constant noise is a stressor and negates actual important alarms. Alarm fatigue is a real thing, and a dangerous one,.

I can't like this post enough.

[littlespitfire]

Oh yes, we have had that and also a microphone that records sound levels. At the nurses stations. We had to remind management that 1, our bed alarms set off the yacker tracker. As did med cart drawers. And phones. And 2, their choice of placement didn't take into account the a+ox1 screamers we have lined up in front of the nurses stations at night, since we do not have sitters. So the "noise" was often unavoidable.

[NurseLife0508, BSN, RN]

My previous job (a tele floor) had a Yacker Tracker. It was so sensitive that it would go to yellow (sometimes red) just when opening/closing the rings of charts! So annoying! 🙄

[LaughingRN1979]

We have one in the ER that I work in. Of all places, an ER is not really meant to be a restful place! We get you in, fix what we can, and ship you out! It usually gets triggered by the tube system or by EMS when they bring in a patient. And of course it goes off a bit during the hubbub of a trauma!

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

I have worked on 2 units with these stoplights. I was skeptical at first, but found myself paying attention when it turned red. It's only a visual cue that the noise level is getting out of hand.

Don't take it personally. Anything that may keep the noise level down, so patients can rest.. is a good thing.

[Widner2929]

Several years ago we had one on our LDRP unit. I placed ours in the bathroom and our manager was the first one to find it! One of my best pranks.

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

Several years ago we had one on our LDRP unit. I placed ours in the bathroom and our manager was the first one to find it! One of my best pranks.

That's pretty funny. Hope it got cleaned off afterward! It reminds me of a nurse I worked with who couldn't stand cows not in use being left unplugged and would take them and hide them in random areas...like the bathroom...to prove a point.