Strategies adopted by health professionals to reduce noise level in a neonatal intensive care unit

estratégias adotadas pelos profissionais de saúde

Abstract

This study aims to verify the sources of noise in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unitand the strategies adopted by the professionals to control and reduce it, before the implementation of an educational program. It was a qualitative investigation carried out at a NICU of a University Hospital in the municipality of São Paulo. 101 health professionals took part in the research. The results indicated that the majority of the professionals involved were nursing assistants or nursing technicians (35.6%), and doctors (27.7%) with an average age of 32.2 years; 7.9 years of professional experience and an average of 5.8 years working experience at a NICU. The unit was considered as very noisy (44.9%) at a relatively uncomfortable level (41.2%). The main sources of noise mentioned were: equipment alarms (75.8%), conversations between professionals (60.0%) and exchanges between them (18.9%).The mostimportant noise reduction strategiesoutlined were:whispering(61.5%),using caution when manipulating the incubator(36.5%), trying not to make unnecessary noise (30.2%), and paying attention to alarms (25.0%). The results pointed to the necessity of training the medical and nursing staff about noise prevention and control and to the reorganization of care practices in general and neonatal care in particular.