Solutions Regarding Noise Control For Hospitals At The Source

By Author: Kevin Richard
Total Articles: 254
Comment this article

Hospital noise is not only an annoyance, but according to a study performed in 2006 in Illinois, it may have severe detrimental effects on staff, patients, and eventually the perspectives of the clients.

In this study, it was determined that the noise created in an area constructed in 1999 surpassed that of a jackhammer.

There is a role of zoning for odor and noise control for hospitals in your hospital layout. Three main zones were recognized and they are holding, clinic and client. Given that the holding zone is the area that creates most of the odor and noise, palliating it here should be our basic goal.

A common noise issue in shelters and hospital amenities happen when patients sit facing one another. A single noise often leads to a growing concern that raises the stress level among the patients.

Although hospital waiting areas generally have patients for relatively short periods, we can implement what we have learned from this study and address the built ambiance of these ...
... areas in the design process. For those amenities with boarding services that might keep patients for extended periods, the lessons learned can be directly implemented through these strategies:

• Avoid double loaded corridor design in the wards.

• Raise the ceiling and utilize industrial acoustic windows ideal to the anticipated moisture levels. Suspended acoustic ceilings or acoustical sound baffles in open ceiling spaces are ideal.

• Due to the nature of these areas, they are generally constructed of hard non-absorptive materials. Consider sound blankets with high NRC ratings on the upper walls.

• Position your wards to the back of your amenity and enable your clinic area to have a SCIF room. You can’t completely eradicate sound transmission from one zone to the next without extensive cost, but a muffled bark is completely more acceptable than a shrill one. Find less noise sensitive clinic areas next to these areas.

• Position wards on the external wards wherever possible. By its nature, exterior wall design is generally more considerable and sound deadening than the interior construction and concerns about possible annoyance noise transmitted to the neighboring areas are more conveniently addressed.

• Develop proper cleaning protocols. Controlling sound at its source in a timely way eradicates the worry of it migrating to the more sensitive areas of the hospital. Modern shelter design includes strategies to maintain them properly.

Some of these strategies will have little or zero inherent cost; others might be cost prohibitive given the nature and the size of your practice. All of these should be considered in your hospital design process. Given the design sensitivity being applied these days, it is evident that hospitals with better acoustics are on their way to our life. This is certainly ensuring less noise in the hospital amenity areas.