The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between nurses’ performance of noise management, noise experience, noise-related knowledge, response to noise, and patient safety culture and to identify factors affecting nurses’ performa...
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between nurses’ performance of noise management, noise experience, noise-related knowledge, response to noise, and patient safety culture and to identify factors affecting nurses’ performance of noise management in adult intensive care units.
The subjects of this study were 148 nurse in adult intensive care unit with over 3 months of clinical experience working at advanced general hospitals in J and C cities. Data were collected from April 1st to 20th, 2022.
The collected data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, Independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Scheffe's test, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and hierarchical multiple regression analysis by SPSS/WIN 25.0 program.
The results of this study are summarized as follows.
1) The general characteristics of nurses in adult intensive care units were as follows. The nurses’ mean age was 28.36±4.29 years old and most of them was general nurses (96.6%). The mean years of nurses’ nursing experience was 5.52±4.34 years and the mean years of working experience in the intensive care unit was 4.23±2.30 years. Regarding noise-related characteristics, 35 nurses (23.6%) reported that the unit applied ‘quiet time’ and ‘quiet time’ was applied between midnight and 8 am. However, 113 nurses (76.4%) reported that the unit did not apply ‘quiet time.’ 147 nurses (99.3%) reported that they had no experience of receiving education on noise management. 112 nurses (75.5%) reported that the education on noise management is needed.
2) The mean score of noise experience frequency was 3.05±0.62 (range 1-4). The mean scores of its subcategories were: 3.41±0.62 of medical device factors, 2.99±0.63 of human factors, 2.96±0.84 of environmental factors. The mean score of perceived noise levels was 4.69±1.51 (range 0-10). The mean scores of its subcategories were: 5.93±1.84 of medical device factors, 4.50±1.51 of human factors, 4.05±1.90 of environmental factor. The total score of noise-related knowledge was 28.91±9.98 (range 0-54) and the percentage of correct answer was 54%, which was generally low. The mean score of response to noise was 4.89±2.32 (range 0-10). The mean scores of its subcategories were: 4.22±2.29 of physiological response and 5.42±2.55 of emotional response. The mean score of patient safety culture was 3.52±0.49 (range 1-5). The mean scores of its subcategories were: 3.86±0.66 of patient safety knowledge and attitude, 3.72±0.63 of teamwork, 3.62±0.71 of leadership, 3.53±0.72 of patient safety policy and procedure, 3.30 ±0.74 of patient safety improvement system, 3.26±0.83 of non-punitive environment, and 2.86±0.70 of patient safety priority. The mean score of performance of noise management performance was 3.45±0.64 (range 1-5).
3) There was a significant difference between the necessity of noise management education in nurses’ performance of noise management (t=2.66, p=.009).
4) There were significant positive relationships between nurses’ performance of noise management and noise experience frequency (r=.20, p=.013), noise-related knowledge (r=.21, p=.009), response to noise (r=.23, p=.005) as well as patient safety culture (r=.50, p<.001).
5) The factors affecting nurses’ performance of noise management in adult intensive care units were noise experience frequency (β=.16 p<.030), teamwork of patient safety culture (β=.33, p=.006) and patient safety policy and procedure of patient safety culture (β=.25, p=.037) explaining 37.9% of the variance.
In conclusion, the factors affecting nurse’ performance of noise management in the adult intensive care unit were noise experience frequency, teamwork of patient safety culture, and patient safety policies and procedures of patient safety culture. Based on these results, we suggest that the a noise reduction intervention program should be developed using teamwork reinforcement and team approach to improve performance of noise management for nurses in adult intensive care units. Also, in addition to nurses’ personal efforts for noise management, organizational efforts and strategies are needed by establishing patient safety policies and procedures related to hospital noise at the hospital level.