The Effect of Noise on Patients in Intensive Care Unit

The patients, who treated in intensive care unit, have high mortality and morbidity due to the pathologies. Intensive care patients don’t have the ability to select and control from environmental stimulant. Noise is the most common source of environmental stress in the living space and has been defined by WHO as an international health problem. Studies of the noise levels of intensive care units show that the noise levels are well above the recommended levels. The effects of noise can vary depending on the age, sex, and health condition of the exposed to noise, and also on noise intensity, frequency, form and duration. The average duration of stay in intensive care in Turkey is 7 days, however even that this process can be much longer. Therefore patients have long-term noise exposure to intensive care. It has shown in the literature that noise leads to physiological and psychological adverse effects in patients. Nurses have a protective-advocacy role among defined roles. In this context, nurses should provide a psycho-social and physically safe environment for the patients. For this reason, intensive care nurses have important tasks in reducing or eliminating noise in order to can protect the physiological and psychological effects of the patients who are treated in the intensive care unit