Answer

Reducing Noise pollution by erecting glass barriers at Nurse Stations

Excess noise is a deterrent to productive outcomes in the healthcare sector. It can affect both the patient and the caregivers in equal manner. The nursing station is an example of a place with a lot of activity in a healthcare environment, and so generates a lot of noise. The noise from outside may also affect activities in the nurse station. This summary looks at how the erection of plexiglass barrier can be used to control noise and protect both the patients and nurses. When erected, these barriers can effectively reduce noise, leading to better healthcare outcomes.

Purpose

Despite great advances in the medical profession and nursing care over the years, noise remains an Achilles heel in many healthcare environments. Unnecessary noise can have adverse effects on the patient and greatly affect the ability of the caregiver to provide effective care. The privacy of speech, which is vital in protecting the patient rights, is also adversely affected in an environment that is noisy. It is little wonder then that the WHO-recommended sound levels for patient rooms of 35 dB(A) during daytime and 30 dB(A) during night-time. One of the sources of noise in a healthcare setting is the nurse station. According to Hill and LaVela (2015), the noise here reaches a peak especially when it is time for shift changes. The purpose of this quality improvement initiative is to make use of design strategies (use of clear plexiglass or non-breakable glass) to reduce the noise and properly manage sound within the healthcare environment.

Target Population

The main target population for this quality improvement initiative is the nurses. In a healthcare set-up, noise can come from various sources; patients, visitors, electronic gadgets used by patients and visitors, the equipment and machines used to provide various services, or even nurses. Ryan et al. (2016) stress that being the caregivers, the noise from the nurses at their stations can negatively affect the care provided because the nurses may fail to give instructions or listen to patients in an effective manner. The noise levels at the station may also mean that they have to speak louder to and about patients, compromising the patient privacy. It is therefore important to make sure that noise at the nurse stations is kept at very low levels. The nurses also need minimal distractions and stress that can be created by excessive noise. This initiative will address the noise reduction, thereby improving patient outcomes in the long run.

Benefits of the initiative

The main benefit of the transparent barriers would be a great reduction in the noises that emanate from the nurse stations especially during the times when shifts are changing. The negative impacts on the physical and psychological side of patient outcomes would be limited as the patients would experience more sleep, reduced stress and higher confidence in the confidence in their caregivers. On the nursing staff themselves, the benefits are almost similar. They experience excess exhaustion, depression and even irritability. Sometimes, the nursing profession has complexities that require a lot of memory retention and can be quite sensitive to noise. It is vital that noise that can be one of the principal causes of medication errors is eliminated or kept as low as possible. According to Oleksy and Schlesinger (2019), the healthcare environment handles a variety of complications in patients, some of which may be exacerbated by noise leading to accidents or even fatalities. The clear plexiglass, though more sound reflective than opaque barriers, offers another important advantage—it controls noise, offers speech privacy and helps to keep a clear and open line of sight.

Interprofessional collaboration for implementing the initiative

The plexiglass partitions used at the nurse station would not be relevant in isolation. Protecting the nurses (and the patients) from noise would require that the partitions be used in other sections and locations within the hospital where privacy is valued but visual access is still considered essential. This would be in places like the ICU rooms or in rooms where more than one patient are housed. The noise distraction that would affect the ability of the nurses to deliver high quality care can come from various sources. The use of the glass partitions at the nurse station only protect the nurses from noise that may come from outside the station. The nurses themselves have to act in collaboration to ensure that their own level of noise is not prohibitive. Kurnat-Thoma and Shah (2016) assert that while erecting the glass partitions, care must be taken to ensure that essential sounds like fire alarms are incorporated by the safety team into the design of the nurse station. For noise to generally come down, even the rooms housing the documentation departments and physical therapy spaces have to be made in such a way that the noise levels from them are minimised. This will enable the nurses to maximally concentrate and achieve better outcomes.

Budget Justifications

The major equipment needed for this quality improvement initiative is the clear plexiglass. For the nurse station, we would need plexiglass amounting to $ 6000. This would be essential even where it is decided that the stations be decentralised to further reduce the noise. We would also need a number of L brackets and nuts that would fit into them, all at a combined cost of $ 400. The labour cost for the project would be $ 3000. This labour cost would even include the costs for trial of the facility after the work is done. There would be need for a further $ 300 to be for any additional costs like the running costs and employee welfare for the initiative. It would also include the safety features that would have to be incorporated into the project. The table below gives the summary of the cost justifications:

Evaluation of the Initiative

The evaluation of the initiative would have to rely on the level with which the erection of the plexiglass barriers help to reduce noise within the nurse station. To do this, sound assessments and the measurement of decibels within the station would have to be measured before the barriers are erected. This would help to establish the noise level that has to be reduced. A Sound Level Meter that records the decibels would be in use again after the erection of barriers to determine the lowest and highest readings so that a comparison is made in line with what the World Health Organisation recommends. The two readings (before and after) would then be compared so that it is established whether or not the plexiglass serves its purpose. It is important to note that in the evaluation of noise levels, we are not looking for zero levels of noise where there is no sound. The absence of any sound would mean that any slight sound startles a nurse or a patient, causing accidents. On the contrary, we aim to get the noise down to levels that allow privacy in conversations and create an enabling environment for the nurses to work.

Conclusion

The management of sound within a healthcare environment is an essential process of improving the quality of healthcare. Plexiglass can be used to greatly reduce the noise pollution within healthcare facilities, especially in nurse stations. This enables nurses to avoid distractions and concentrate on the task of improving healthcare quality.