14 DAY TRIAL // A paper appearing in the latest online issue of the esteemed journal Annals of Internal Medicine argues that modern hospitals are so noisy that they actually make it harder for patients committed in these institutions to recover from their wounds or other afflictions.
Sleep is definitely one of the most important aspects of recovery, and the constant humming of machine and personnel and visitor movements is preventing patients from resting properly. When in a fragile state, all humans need peace and quietness to recharge their batteries, PsychCentral reports.
In addition to disrupting the type of brain activity that is needed to promote sleep, certain noises can also have adverse side-effects on the cardiovascular systems. “Hospitals and actually most urban sleep environments are increasingly noise-polluted,” says study Researcher Orfeu Buxton, PhD.
Some of the methods the new research proposes for dealing with this situation include altering night-care routines and routes, and changing technologies currently in use for clinician communication and medical alarms.