Medical staff's sentiments on the establishment of quiet time in the NICU.

Abstract

To explore the sentiments of medical staff in setting quiet time in a tertiary neonatal intensive care unit. Quiet time, which can help create a healing neonatal intensive care unit environment, is increasingly being valued by hospital administrators. Semi-structured interviews were used to interview 12 neonatal intensive care unit staff members, with data analysed using the content analysis method. This study extracted four themes: support, concern, education and teamwork. If quiet time needs to be set up, implemented and maintained in the neonatal intensive care unit, it is necessary to establish a quiet time culture throughout the whole ward, to carry out detailed management of quiet time and to cooperate and communicate with multidisciplinary departments. To keep the ward quiet and minimize handling during quiet time, it is necessary to take adequate steps from a management level. Targeted staff training and education allow staff to appreciate the necessity and urgency of setting quiet time for themselves and babies. It is also necessary to refine the educational content of noise reduction and minimal handling and provide clear guidance on the best means to carry out clinical work during quiet time. Nursing managers need to establish a monitoring system for NICU noise and manage various noise sources made from equipment and people.