RESUMO
PURPOSE: To describe how a pediatric postanesthesia care unit used a two-phased approach of bundled interventions to reduce unit noise levels and improve staff perceptions of their work environment. DESIGN: Pre/post design. METHODS: Postanesthesia care unit sound levels and monitor alarms were measured at baseline and after implementing both project phases. Nursing staff members were surveyed at baseline and after completion of the project. FINDINGS: Monitor alarms were reduced by more than 50% after Phase I. However, noise measurement data did not reflect a difference in sound levels between baseline and intervention phases. Despite this, staff perceived the unit as much quieter. CONCLUSIONS: The reduction in monitor alarms did not cause an appreciable change in sound levels as measured by noise dosimeters in either intervention phase. Despite these findings, nurses perceived a quieter and more pleasant workplace. These impressions might have resulted from subjective expectations versus actual volume levels, or they might owe to the reduction in incidence of alarms themselves, which they had viewed as nuisance sounds.
