ABSTRACT Background Noise pollution in intensive care units (ICUs) is a pervasive occupational exposure that may affect nurses' well‐being, patient safety and quality of care. Aim To examine ICU nurses' perceptions and experiences of noise pollution and explore associations between perceived noise exposure, well‐being, work performance and patient safety. Study Design A convergent mixed‐methods design was used. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected using structured questionnaires and semi‐structured interviews. Qualitative data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis in accordance with GRAMMS guidelines. Results/Findings A total of 60 nurses participated in the quantitative phase, and 13 nurses participated in the qualitative interviews. A substantial proportion of nurses reported that noise often or always increased stress (56.6%, n = 34), restlessness or discomfort (48.3%, n = 29), sleep disturbance (53.3%, n = 32), fatigue or frustration (45.0%, n = 27) and headaches (41.7%, n = 25); 33.3% ( n = 20) reported frequent or constant effects on decision‐making. Integrated analysis of quantitative and qualitative data identified three overarching themes: (1) the dual role of alarms in patient safety and workflow; (2) alarm burden as a systemic and technical challenge; and (3) strategies for managing alarm‐related stress. Conclusion ICU noise is functionally essential for monitoring and safety yet burdensome for nurses and patients. Individualising alarms for responding staff and using wrist‐vibrating bands may reduce noise burden and improve staff well‐being and perceived patient outcomes. Relevance to Clinical Practice ICU noise is a modifiable risk to provider health and clinical performance. Practice should move from unit‐wide audible alerts to targeted, non‐auditory systems (e.g., wrist‐vibrating bands) to reduce cognitive load. Clinical leaders must implement ‘quiet zones’ for high‐stakes tasks like medication titration and provide protected rest periods in low‐decibel environments to mitigate documented nurse fatigue and sleep disturbance.
Salimi et al. (Sat,) studied this question.