Noise reduction interventions during golden hour admissions: A quality improvement project

Background Exposure to noxious noise increases stress levels and physiologic instability in premature infants and impacts to long-term negative repercussions on the neurodevelopment of this population and unintentionally counteracts the efforts of initial stabilization. Objective Evaluate if interventions including staff education, project champions, and a visual feedback decibel monitoring system would reduce noise levels during admissions of infants <32 weeks’ gestation in a level III NICU. Methods Quantitative pre- and post-intervention decibel level measurements were collected across admissions during a 6-month period. Results Results demonstrated statistically significant reductions in mean decibel level ( p < .001), smaller deviations from baseline room acoustics ( p = .014), and a significant increase in the percentage of time noise remained below the local target of 55 dBA ( p < .001). Conclusion Integrating intermittent visual feedback decibel monitoring, supplemented with education, into established golden hour workflows may support sustainable noise-reduction efforts and neurodevelopmentally supportive environments for infants less than 32 weeks’ gestational age.