N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 7 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 3 7
Quiet, Please: Noise Distractions in the OR
Silence is golden during the critical stages of surgery.
E
ver been in a really noisy OR? The surgeon's rock anthem
blares, nurses discuss their weekends and the vital signs moni-
tor beeps proof of life — it's so chaotically loud that it's hard
to think straight. Yet this sounds like a typical OR, right? That's the
problem. You might think excess noise during surgery is normal and
acceptable, but just 45 decibels can impact what's heard and communi-
cated among surgical team members. The Joint Commission thought
the problem was enough of a concern to issue a recent safety alert
centered on eliminating noise distractions in the OR.
The noisiest periods of surgery occur during anesthesia induction
and emergence, according to the alert. Orthopedic surgery and neuro-
surgery are among the noisiest procedures with intermittent peak lev-
els exceeding 100 decibels more than 40% of the time. A prospective
study of hernia repairs found that noise levels were substantially high-
er during the incision closures of patients who developed surgical site
Safety
Erin Lawler
• SHHH, SURGERY IN PROGRESS
Staff members who are able to concen-
trate, communicate and work well with
one another will provide safer care.
Pamela
Bevelhymer,
RN,
BSN,
CNOR
