Date of Conferral

2022

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Anna Hubard

Abstract

AbstractNoise levels can negatively affect a patient’s hospital experience. Increased noise levels in the hospital can trigger sleep disturbance and affect the length of recovery for patients; the increased noise levels can also cause increased anxiety and exhaustion for nursing staff members. Due to a gap in nursing practice related to nurses’ knowledge to safely reduce noise levels, this project addressed if nursing staff education on noise reduction could increase the knowledge among nursing staff members to use specific strategies to reduce noise levels in an intensive care unit (ICU) setting. The purpose of this project was to educate eight ICU nurses on reducing noise levels, with the overall intent to increase the nurses’ knowledge on how to safely reduce noise levels in the ICU. This knowledge increase among the nurses regarding noise reduction in the ICU could lead to improved patient outcomes. The development of the nursing staff education was grounded in the analysis, design, implementation, and evaluation model and Florence Nightingale’s environment theory. Eight registered nurses volunteered to participate in the staff education. A 15-question multiple-choice pretest and posttest based on the “Knowledge Assessment Questionnaire on Noise Level in the ICU” was developed and administered to the participants. Using a paired t test, the results revealed that there was an increase in knowledge; the average number of correct answers as a group pretest was 72.5%, and 100 % posttest. The project findings indicate that nurses can use this knowledge to improve the patient experience in the ICU. This project has the potential to create social change as nurses can use this education to decrease noise levels with the overall goal to minimize physiological complications.

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