Occupational exposure to sustained high-noise levels in intensive care units (ICUs) could pose significant auditory health risks for healthcare professionals. AIM: This investigation evaluates the prevalence and characteristics of hearing impairment among nursing staff working in an intensive care unit (ICU) versus non-ICU environments within Chinese healthcare facilities.
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
No immediate change to audiological clinical practice is warranted; however, the findings reinforce the importance of occupational hearing monitoring programs for ICU staff, which audiologists working in occupational health settings should note.
Highlighting hearing loss risk among ICU nurses expands the audiology field's focus on occupational hearing conservation beyond traditional industries like manufacturing and construction into healthcare settings.
- 01Comparative study of auditory health in ICU vs. non-ICU nursing staff published in Nursing in Critical Care.
- 02ICU environments are characterised by sustained high noise levels from alarms, ventilators, and equipment.
- 03Study assesses whether ICU nurses face elevated occupational noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) risk.
- 04Findings could inform workplace hearing conservation programmes in hospital settings.
- 05Healthcare workers are an often-overlooked population in occupational audiology research.
ICU nursing staff are exposed to sustained high noise levels that may elevate their risk of occupational noise-induced hearing loss compared to non-ICU nursing staff.
studypartially supported- PMID
- 42786764
- DOI
- 10.1111/nicc.70697.
- Journal
- Nursing in Critical Care
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 2b
- Population
- ICU nursing staff and non-ICU nursing staff in a hospital setting
- Intervention
- Occupational noise exposure in ICU environments
- Comparator
- Non-ICU nursing staff
Primary outcomes
Prevalence and degree of occupational noise-induced hearing loss; Comparison of auditory health outcomes between ICU and non-ICU nurses
