Noise on the Night Shift

DusktilDawn · Feb 19, 2006

Has anyone had any luck reducing the amount of noise on your unit at night? My floor is constantly getting marked down on their Press Ganey scores because of noise levels at night. I started with posting signs on the unit. Our biggest problem is that the nurses station is right next to the patient rooms. Any ideas??

I offer to close the doors of the patient rooms nearest the desk. We've become more aware of how we, as staff, may be a problem on our unit and I find that staff is significantly more quieter than when I started. It has not eliminated complaints about noise however. Another problem we have is that there is not individual headphones are provided for the TVs in the rooms, so in some instances it may be the roommates TV they complain about. They have a roommate that makes a lot of noise (ie: snoring, talking on cell-phone, constantly talking, constantly calling staff to room, etc). Also when the call lights go off, they can be heard in the rooms. We've also had our floors stripped and waxed during the night, heaven forbid a portion of the unit be closed for this, the smell and the noise:smackingf Have had housekeeping (2-3 people) arrive to clean a bed and they've been loud (sometimes, not always). We've even had patients who SCREAMED constantly during the night. We get patients who are disturbed when a new admission/transfer arrives during the night.

If there are a lot of complaint about staff making noise, you could provide an inservice to make people more aware of their noise level during the night. However, I noticed with our Press Ganey scores, most complaints about noise are vague and not specific and not always specific to nights: It was noisy.

nialloh, RN · Feb 19, 2006

While I agree it would be good to be quiet, Pt's forget that the hospital is a work place. Staff have to discuss things (although this should be as quiet as possable), things are moved, and new pt's are admitted, etc.. You come to a hospital to get well. If you want perfect quiet, go to an hotel. Not to be bad, but in a hospital, like any work area, there will be some sound.

LPN1974, LPN · Feb 19, 2006

While I agree it would be good to be quiet, Pt's forget that the hospital is a work place. Staff have to discuss things (although this should be as quiet as possable), things are moved, and new pt's are admitted, etc.. You come to a hospital to get well. If you want perfect quiet, go to an hotel. Not to be bad, but in a hospital, like any work area, there will be some sound.

And on the other side of the coin, maybe some hospital workers forget that patients are sick and sick patients need rest. Sick people heal faster if they can get peaceful rest.

Patients come to the hospital to get well, they don't need to go to a hotel.

Hospitals should be able to offer some rest and quiet. I understand that some noise is unavoidable, but alot of it could be reduced. I've had 2 surgeries myself, and I do know how noisy it can be.

The job I had in a nursing home for awhile.....the staff were VERY noisy.

I tried suggesting that they be a bit quieter at night and got looked at like I was crazy.

Staff congregating around the desk and loud talking, laughing and the tv playing loudly in the lobby area in front of the desk, all night long. This is not discussing things. This is avoidable noise. JMHO............not debating, but I do know there are two sides to every coin.

SmilingBluEyes · Feb 19, 2006

I agree, avoid congregating around the nurses' station and talking loudly. Also, shut the doors of pt rooms, if you can. It's good to remember, people are in the hospital to heal----and while sleep is difficult to be had, you have to do the best you can to keep things to a low roar so people CAN rest. If this is a continual complaint, it's clearly a problem. Just lowering voices and keeping the tone down at the nurses' station may help.

nialloh, RN · Feb 19, 2006

I agree, avoid congregating around the nurses' station and talking loudly. Also, shut the doors of pt rooms, if you can. It's good to remember, people are in the hospital to heal----and while sleep is difficult to be had, you have to do the best you can to keep things to a low roar so people CAN rest. If this is a continual complaint, it's clearly a problem. Just lowering voices and keeping the tone down at the nurses' station may help.

Agreed. I'm only talking about unavoidable noise. But some pt's will complain about a pin dropping with the door closed. When I made the hotel comment, I was talking about the people who want absolute quiet with no exceptions.

ljds · Feb 19, 2006

We've closed doors, we carpeted the hallways, and we carry cell phones now (instead of paging overhead, or into rooms for staff). When we redesigned the unit, we also created a room off the side of the nurses' station which is enclosed on three sides, opening to the nurses station (but not directly across from any rooms). This is officially a physician's workroom, but not really on nights; it is where the night shift hangs out to talk, etc. It is still near the call light system; it just helps contain the noise. It also helps to remind people to be quiet; all of us can get loud occasionally.

These acts (especially the closing of the doors and carpeting of the hallways) has reduced our complaints about noise significantly.

Good luck!

Ruby Vee, BSN · Feb 19, 2006

boy, this is one of my pet peeves -- staff noise. it's no wonder our patients don't sleep, the staff are so freaking loud! no one seems to make any attempt to lower their voices, and the talking and laughing continue at full volume all night long. the housekeepers will walk into a room to empty the garbage cans at 3 am, and call out to me (sitting quietly at the computer in the pateint's room) "hey, how ya doing?" then they come into the room and bang the garbage cans around. i wish i could think of some way to make cutting the noise a unit goal!

SuperFlyRN · Feb 20, 2006

The last night I worked one of our patient's complained about the loud screaming (someone was delivering) I work on an LBRP unit. I *almost* wanted to remind her that was her not 26 hours previously! That is our most common complaint, that and the babies crying!!

zacarias, ASN, RN · Feb 20, 2006

This has been an occasional problem at my work. We have one CNA says "sshh" around us if we get to loud. We don't resent it, we love it and it reminds us to keep it quiet.

We can't eliminate noise, because we are working. However, keeping it mind will likely reduce the noice and patients' not being able to sleep.

Nutmeg5575 · Feb 20, 2006

I had a baby in December and I was told to get some sleep and rest for the night. (my labor was 18 hours) I couldn't sleep b/c the nurses were all talking about what they got for christmas and ordering things online their children etc I understand that when you have nothing to do good conversation helps you to stay awake, but it was really annoying to me. Maybe it was just the labor haha! :rollThe other thing that got on my nerves was the nurse had a victorias secret catelog folded in her scrubs. I don't care if you read when you have nothing to do but I think its unprofessional to fold it up as you're walking into the pt room. And last (boy I have tons of complaints huh) Each nurse had a different procedure. The first nurse said I had to lay down and could get escorted to the restroom by my mom, the second nurse said I wasn't allowed to use the restroom unless she escorted me (which was a pain b/c i would hit the call nurse button and she would take her time. When you are pregnant you have to go! Then the third nurse said that I had to go in a bedpan. Another example is when I was in recovery I hit the call nurse button and the nurse chewed me out for not calling her cell phone and said for me not to use the call nurse button... What the heck is it for if not to call my nurse? Then the night shift nurse said to use the button. I'm sorry I'm just venting. I think nurses should follow the same procedures, b/c it can be very confusing for the pt.

MNlpn · Feb 20, 2006

The last night I worked one of our patient's complained about the loud screaming (someone was delivering) I work on an LBRP unit. I *almost* wanted to remind her that was her not 26 hours previously! That is our most common complaint, that and the babies crying!!

Perhaps with the next baby they could get a mid-wife and deliver at home:chuckle