Relationship between noise levels and intensive care patients' clinical complexity: An observational simulation study.

Excessive noise level in the intensive care unit is a clinical issue that negatively affects patients' and healthcare providers' well-being. The increase in baseline room noise from medical devices is generally limited. Typical nursing tasks and conversations produce higher noise levels than medical devices and alarms. These findings could be helpful to raise awareness among healthcare professionals to recognize noise sources. The noisiest components of the environment can be modified by staff behaviour, promoting noise reduction strategies and improving the critical care environment.