Mercy Establishes Quiet Time 01/22/2013 MASON CITY -- Mercy Medical Center – North Iowa will implement a standard “Quiet Time” hospital-wide on February 1.
During “Quiet Time” – 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. and again from 10:00 p.m. – 6:00 a.m. every day, visitors and hospital staff will be asked to:
- Keep their visits short;
- Keep their voices down;
- Keep the lights to a dim setting; and
- Put cell phones and pagers on vibrate only.
“Quiet time will further promote healing and provide a time for more uninterrupted sleep and rest,” said Julie Neeley, LPN, Nursing Resource Pool, citing that high sound levels affect patients’ sleep, raises their anxiety levels and lowers their ability to manage symptoms.
Several hospitals from around the country have implemented standard quiet times as well and have received accolades from patients who scored their hospital experience higher in patient satisfaction surveys.
Patients will continue to receive visits from healthcare staff during quiet time. Mercy – North Iowa’s Critical Care Unit will begin quiet time one hour earlier in the afternoon then the rest of the units. Critical Care quiet time will be 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. and again from 10:00 p.m. – 6:00 a.m.
“Even though we are a 24-hour-a-day operation, our patients do need quiet, it is essential to their recovery,” said Ashley Thrond, RN, 4 East.
