Yacker Tracker in the NICU ???

Nurses General Nursing

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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?
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Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.

I would hope that somebody is paying attention to what sets it off and is making steps to fix THOSE noises. The light does no good if its just ignored. But if alarms and call bells are setting it off....then maybe somebody needs to be looking at a way to lower those ambient noises. (Which, again, research shows are a problem not only because of too much noise but also alarm fatigue.)

Specializes in CVICU, MICU, Burn ICU.

I've never heard of this -- though I've seen various units employ different tactics to keep noise level down. It's a worthwhile effort. In the ICUs I've worked in everything seems so close and the patients are pretty exposed (by necessity). That's even more true in a NICU. I agree there are a number of noises that could set something like that off (and those should be addressed too). I also know it's easy for me to lose track of the decibel of my own voice -- I don't mind reminders.

Specializes in NICU, PICU, PACU.

They were moving those around the floors...they disappeared from our unit pretty quickly when our poor withdrawl kids were screaming.

Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.

I'm in agreement that it's NON-VOICE noise that is the biggest problem.

Respiratory carts, phlebotomy carts, vitals machines, ER stretchers, etc., all rattle down the halls and thump over the expansion joints / fire door jambs. Why can't they put rollerblade wheels on all those things so they glide quietly?

Then you have the nurse phones, aide phones, and unit clerk phones.

And the call lights, IV pump alarms, BiPAP/CPAP alarms, and constant bed alarms.

And the doctors, charge nurses, respiratory therapists, and housekeepers all have beepers that go off at all hours of the night.

And how about the tvs that are on MAX VOLUME because the LOLs and LOMs are deaf as a doorknob, and we can't close their door to muffle the sound because they're also a FALL RISK and we need to constantly be on the lookout for someone trying to go walkabout without permission.

So, even if we get ALL of those things quieted down, we're still going in to give meds at 2030, then injecting them with heparin again at 2200, then waking them at 0000 for vitals, then waking them again at 0400 for vitals (if we didn't also wake them at 0200 for SoluMedrol or an antibiotic IVPB), then phlebotomy wakes them at 0500 for lab draws, then we're back in again at 0600 for "on an empty stomach" meds like Synthroid and Protonix, plus we have to shoot them in the belly with heparin again.

WHEN THE HECK ARE THEY SUPPOSED TO GET ANY SLEEP????

Specializes in Pediatrics, Pediatric Float, PICU, NICU.
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.

We had one of these at the first pediatric hospital I worked for, but only on certain units. Ours wasn't a stop light, it was shaped like an ear and there were three "levels" of the ear that would change from green, to yellow, to red when the noise was too much. I get the concept because in my experience yes we can get loud and carried away at times with report, etc but still it was super irritating because the thing was so sensitive; anything from monitors, vitals machines, visitors, families, and a whole list of other things would set it off.

Specializes in Neuro ICU and Med Surg.

I worked in a neuro ICU and ours was set so sensitive that if you dropped a tube from the tube station it went to red. Coughed too loud went to red, went into the supply room and the door closed it went to red. We would eventually have to shut it off.

I do realize that we can be loud and not realize it, but some noise is just unavoidable. Eventually it stayed shut off.

Specializes in Oncology.

And how about the tvs that are on MAX VOLUME because the LOLs and LOMs are deaf as a doorknob, and we can't close their door to muffle the sound because they're also a FALL RISK and we need to constantly be on the lookout for someone trying to go walkabout without permission.

I go around and turn down people's TVs after they fall asleep. I can't focus at all with TVs blasting- a different station on every room.

Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.

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

Just wow. :laugh:

Specializes in Critical Care and ED.

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,.

My former employer tried this on our unit, we just switched the sensitivity and ignored it. It went away within a month or two. I'm a school nurse now and we use one in the elementary school lunch room.

Specializes in Geriatrics, Dialysis.

I work in a SNF and have thankfully never heard of such a thing. I can imagine the light would be red most of the night just from our sundowning dementia residents living their normal lives on their normal schedule. There's not enough staff in the building at night for worker noise to be a significant issue. Though I can see the night shifters having fun trying to get the thing to go to red as often as possible. As somebody else said, that's not it's intended purpose but faced with the indignity of being monitored for excess noise you can bet that creating as much excess noise as possible would become the goal.

:roflmao: True!
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