Surveys on Noise in Some Hospital Wards and Self-Reported Reactions from Staff: A Case Study
Noise in hospital wards adversely affects the physiological processes of both patients and staff and it is a potential risk for communication breakdowns and errors, causing discomfort and problems regarding the healing of patients, as well as stress, fatigue, and annoyance for staff. Several noise s...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-11-01
|
| Series: | Buildings |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/12/12/2077 |
| _version_ | 1827641483162812416 |
|---|---|
| author | Fabio Lo Castro Sergio Iarossi Giovanni Brambilla Raffaele Mariconte Maurizio Diano Vicente Bruzzaniti Lidia Strigari Giorgio Raffaele Claudia Giliberti |
| author_facet | Fabio Lo Castro Sergio Iarossi Giovanni Brambilla Raffaele Mariconte Maurizio Diano Vicente Bruzzaniti Lidia Strigari Giorgio Raffaele Claudia Giliberti |
| author_sort | Fabio Lo Castro |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Noise in hospital wards adversely affects the physiological processes of both patients and staff and it is a potential risk for communication breakdowns and errors, causing discomfort and problems regarding the healing of patients, as well as stress, fatigue, and annoyance for staff. Several noise sources are present in the wards, such as HVAC systems, alarms, paging, speech, calls, diagnostic equipment, medical devices, and so forth. This paper describes two surveys carried out at an Italian hospital in Rome to investigate the noise in some wards and to collect self-reported assessments from staff about their working environments, even if such assessments were not required for occupational noise exposure evaluation. Self-reported staff evaluations of the working environment quality and the effects of noise on their performances should be investigated. For this purpose, in this study, questionnaires were designed and submitted to staff members. In addition, noise measurements were taken from short-, medium-, and long-term audio recordings processed to determine psychoacoustic parameters, e.g., loudness, sharpness, roughness, and fluctuation strength. Their applications in enclosed spaces can provide additional information on some features of the noise observed in hospital wards, which may influence the perceptions and relevant extra-auditory effects. Even though the results cannot be generalized, they encourage the development of a methodology for noise surveys in hospital wards, including noise measurements and “ad hoc” questionnaires to collect self-reported reactions from exposed staff members. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T17:15:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-adf0a35b59294295b0285303985e4323 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-5309 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T17:15:31Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Buildings |
| spelling | doaj.art-adf0a35b59294295b0285303985e43232023-11-24T13:41:26ZengMDPI AGBuildings2075-53092022-11-011212207710.3390/buildings12122077Surveys on Noise in Some Hospital Wards and Self-Reported Reactions from Staff: A Case StudyFabio Lo Castro0Sergio Iarossi1Giovanni Brambilla2Raffaele Mariconte3Maurizio Diano4Vicente Bruzzaniti5Lidia Strigari6Giorgio Raffaele7Claudia Giliberti8CNR-INM—Section of Acoustics and Sensors O.M. Corbino, 00133 Rome, ItalyCNR-INM—Section of Acoustics and Sensors O.M. Corbino, 00133 Rome, ItalyCNR-STEMS, 44124 Ferrara, ItalyINAIL Dipartimento Innovazioni Tecnologiche e Sicurezza degli Impianti, Prodotti ed Insediamenti Antropici, 00143 Rome, ItalyINAIL Direzione Regionale Calabria—Unità Operativa Territoriale, 88100 Catanzaro, ItalyLaboratory of Medical Physics and Expert Systems, IRCCS Regina Elena National Cancer Institute, 00144 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Medical Physics, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, 40138 Bologna, ItalyIRCCS Regina Elena National Cancer Institute, 00144 Rome, ItalyINAIL Dipartimento Innovazioni Tecnologiche e Sicurezza degli Impianti, Prodotti ed Insediamenti Antropici, 00143 Rome, ItalyNoise in hospital wards adversely affects the physiological processes of both patients and staff and it is a potential risk for communication breakdowns and errors, causing discomfort and problems regarding the healing of patients, as well as stress, fatigue, and annoyance for staff. Several noise sources are present in the wards, such as HVAC systems, alarms, paging, speech, calls, diagnostic equipment, medical devices, and so forth. This paper describes two surveys carried out at an Italian hospital in Rome to investigate the noise in some wards and to collect self-reported assessments from staff about their working environments, even if such assessments were not required for occupational noise exposure evaluation. Self-reported staff evaluations of the working environment quality and the effects of noise on their performances should be investigated. For this purpose, in this study, questionnaires were designed and submitted to staff members. In addition, noise measurements were taken from short-, medium-, and long-term audio recordings processed to determine psychoacoustic parameters, e.g., loudness, sharpness, roughness, and fluctuation strength. Their applications in enclosed spaces can provide additional information on some features of the noise observed in hospital wards, which may influence the perceptions and relevant extra-auditory effects. Even though the results cannot be generalized, they encourage the development of a methodology for noise surveys in hospital wards, including noise measurements and “ad hoc” questionnaires to collect self-reported reactions from exposed staff members.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/12/12/2077noise in hospitalextra-auditory effectsself-reported workplace quality |
| spellingShingle | Fabio Lo Castro Sergio Iarossi Giovanni Brambilla Raffaele Mariconte Maurizio Diano Vicente Bruzzaniti Lidia Strigari Giorgio Raffaele Claudia Giliberti Surveys on Noise in Some Hospital Wards and Self-Reported Reactions from Staff: A Case Study Buildings noise in hospital extra-auditory effects self-reported workplace quality |
| title | Surveys on Noise in Some Hospital Wards and Self-Reported Reactions from Staff: A Case Study |
| title_full | Surveys on Noise in Some Hospital Wards and Self-Reported Reactions from Staff: A Case Study |
| title_fullStr | Surveys on Noise in Some Hospital Wards and Self-Reported Reactions from Staff: A Case Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Surveys on Noise in Some Hospital Wards and Self-Reported Reactions from Staff: A Case Study |
| title_short | Surveys on Noise in Some Hospital Wards and Self-Reported Reactions from Staff: A Case Study |
| title_sort | surveys on noise in some hospital wards and self reported reactions from staff a case study |
| topic | noise in hospital extra-auditory effects self-reported workplace quality |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/12/12/2077 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT fabiolocastro surveysonnoiseinsomehospitalwardsandselfreportedreactionsfromstaffacasestudy AT sergioiarossi surveysonnoiseinsomehospitalwardsandselfreportedreactionsfromstaffacasestudy AT giovannibrambilla surveysonnoiseinsomehospitalwardsandselfreportedreactionsfromstaffacasestudy AT raffaelemariconte surveysonnoiseinsomehospitalwardsandselfreportedreactionsfromstaffacasestudy AT mauriziodiano surveysonnoiseinsomehospitalwardsandselfreportedreactionsfromstaffacasestudy AT vicentebruzzaniti surveysonnoiseinsomehospitalwardsandselfreportedreactionsfromstaffacasestudy AT lidiastrigari surveysonnoiseinsomehospitalwardsandselfreportedreactionsfromstaffacasestudy AT giorgioraffaele surveysonnoiseinsomehospitalwardsandselfreportedreactionsfromstaffacasestudy AT claudiagiliberti surveysonnoiseinsomehospitalwardsandselfreportedreactionsfromstaffacasestudy |