Not getting a restful sleep when one is healthy and in one's own home is unpleasant enough. Imagine having trouble sleeping in a strange environment while sick.
Unfortunately, this is the experience of many hospital patients. To promote restful sleep and relaxation, San Francisco-based Dignity Health has implemented many strategies, including these eight:
1. Quiet Kits and Relax and Refresh Kits. Dignity Health partnered with Medline Industries and designer Deborah Adler to develop kits that help create a quiet and relaxing environment for patients. "Restful sleep is so important to the health and well-being of patients," says Sandy Rush, director of patient experience at Dignity Health.
Each item is intended to make the patient's experience better.
The Quiet Kits include the following items:
• Ear plugs
• Eye mask
• "Voices Down Please" door hanger
• Lip balm
• Sudoku and crossword puzzle books
• "Questions for My Doctor" booklet
• Pencil
The Relax and Refresh Kits include all of the above as well as the following items in a travel bag:
• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste
• Shampoo
• Body wash
• Hand sanitizer
Items like the crossword puzzles do not necessarily make the hospital quieter, but they do help distract patients from their pain. "Many of our patients said that it's not just trying to sleep, but also relaxing that is important," Ms. Rush says. "Once patients are relaxed, they are able to heal better and have less pain. They wanted these items to help them relax, get their minds off being in the hospital and create a restful environment like they have at home."
The kits were piloted in a few hospitals in March and began rolling out to the entire system in April. Overnight patients at most of Dignity Health's hospitals now receive one of the kits, depending on the patient's length of stay, as well as other factors. Patients staying at the hospital for an extended period receive the Relax and Refresh Kits instead of the Quiet kits because they contain some extra items for long stays.
Since Dignity Health previously provided many of the items in the kits to patients upon request, bulk purchasing made the kits cost-neutral to the system.
The role of patient and family advisory councils
The idea for the kits came from Dignity Health leaders' discussions with patient and family advisory councils, which include past Dignity Health patients and their families who provide input on how to improve the organization. Each of the system's 36 inpatient hospitals has at least one council of about five to six advisors that meets monthly to discuss ideas to improve the patient experience. "Our patient advisory councils have been so important in helping to develop these kits," Ms. Rush says. "We firmly believe and honor the comments from our patient and family advisors; their input is so valuable to us."
2. Staff education. A key part of Dignity Health's noise reduction strategy is educating staff on the importance of quietness to patients' health, according to Ms. Rush. Raising awareness of the impact of noise on patients' recovery and experience helps gain buy-in to process changes and promotes quieter behavior.
3. Discontinuation of overhead pagers. Dignity Health is phasing out the use of the overhead paging system in favor of headset devices and individual pagers to communicate in the hospital. This change not only keeps the hospital quieter, it also improves the clarity and efficiency of communication among providers, staff and patients.
4. Patient communication. Staff members tell patients when they will come in to check on them so patients know when to expect an interruption. This communication engages patients in their care and prepares them for the daily routine, which enhances their experience.
5. Combined tasks. Physicians and staff plan ahead so when they visit patients to do one task, they combine it with another so they do not have to continually disrupt patients' sleep or rest. For example, if a staff member knows he or she has to administer medication, he or she may also take the patient's vital signs at the same time, Ms. Rush says.
6. Quiet hours. Dignity Health's hospitals have designated quiet hours from about 9 p.m. to 7 a.m., and many of its hospitals also have about an hour of quiet time in the afternoon. An announcement and dimmed lights cue staff, patients and family members to lower voices so patients can sleep restfully.
7. New cleaning times. In addition to designating quiet hours, the hospital now completes cleaning, and schedules delivery of supplies in the early evenings instead of later in the night to keep the environment quiet.
8. Equipment upkeep. Like fingernails on a chalkboard, a squeaky cart wheel can drive a person crazy. That's why Dignity Health has a process for checking and repairing wheels and other items that can contribute to noise in the hospital.
More Articles on Hospital Noise:
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Reduce Hospital Noise via Direct Communication to Improve HCAHPS Scores