Integrated healthcare acoustics for patients, patient advocates, and staff in environments of care

Abstract

COVID surges have demonstrated worldwide that overloaded critical care facilities cannot transform environments of care rapidly enough to satisfy patient, patient advocate, or staff expectations. Healthcare acoustics is identified as a vital yet understudied factor, linking the front lines of healthcare to patient well-being. Acoustic concerns are categorized, and existing architectural hardware and software means and proposed strategies are here discussed to be applied in both new and existing critical care facilities. Priority concerns focus on staff verbal and machine communications between single patient rooms with integral toilet/shower, adjacent corridors, nurse stations, and remote staff locations. The intent is to maintain uniformly high patient/staff communications and relevant documentation (e.g., for continuity of care, and liability) across all shifts. Integrated visual and acoustic communications between staff and equipment are explored, including projected machine display images minus noisy signals. Staff speech, background masking, and messaging to patients are considered via an “acoustic pillow,” and via a wireless headset for staff, permitting hands-free focus on empathetic patient care. HVAC can be supplied via low-velocity displacement air, served via perimeter floor ducting, and exhausted via toilet/showers. Integrated healthcare acoustics, arguably, can reduce patient and staff stresses critical to recovery and retention, respectively.