Silent Running – Tranquility in Care Homes

Quiet and calm care homes ensure that residents are able to live in a more relaxing and pleasant home environment. Similarly, carers and staff find that they too benefit from reduced stress when working in a home where noise levels are kept to a minimum. In this article, we will explore some of the detrimental factors that come with care home environments, and how utilising a Courtney Thorne nurse call system for care homes can help to alleviate these concerns – bringing a more tranquil environment to your residents and staff alike.

Factors affecting tranquillity in care homes

There are many environmental factors that can affect residents living in care home facilities, especially those that are sensitive to their surroundings, and are suffering from debilitating conditions such as dementia. These environmental factors can be anything from fluctuations in ambient temperature, sources of light, and of course background noise. Repetitive and high levels of noise can originate from a number of internal and external sources, for example, telephones ringing, loud conversations in corridors, and call bells sounding, and harsh noise is often one of the largest contributors to increasing the levels of stress and discomfort in residents.

A published study by the University of Stirling stated that unanswered Nurse Call (Call Bell) alarms can be one of the most common causes of stress in dementia sufferers. The University recommends “fitting call alarms which alert nurses but do not resonate throughout the whole building. Alarms can be particularly disconcerting as they may encourage the person with dementia to respond or investigate what the matter is. At the very least the loss of sleep will compromise a person’s ability to concentrate. It can affect their attention levels and capacity to cope, as well as being detrimental to their overall state of wellbeing. Personal paging systems are preferable to bells and buzzers.”

How modern nurse call systems can help

Modern Nurse Call systems, such as our Altra Care and Connect solutions for care homes, can incorporate a number of different methods to reduce their impact in a care home, and improve the overall living conditions for residents. These include zoning; whereby there are separate alarm types used depending upon the location of the call. In these circumstances, dementia sufferers and those vulnerable to noise can be located in one “zone”, whist less vulnerable residents live in an alternative “zone”. Each “zone” can operate different call tones, warning lights or other methods to alert when help is required.

Reducing noise levels is essential to create a tranquil environment for residents. Pagers have been around for many years, are a relatively simple and cost-effective measure in reducing the levels of noise, and can be added to most Nurse Call systems. Smart Mobile Devices are now becoming more commonplace for care home staff and hold a variety of apps for care planning, e-medication, etc. Many Courtney Thorne clients are now utilising the “Go” app with their Nurse Call system. With the “Go” app, nurse call alarms are delivered immediately and silently straight to the handsets, alerting the individual carers to all Nurse call alarms without creating any general alarm sound and rarely disturbing the rest of the residents in the home.

Calmer residents ultimately means that staff are less stressed also, this creates a happier workplace where morale is greatly improved, staff are retained and CQC ratings improve. Clearly, the positive ramifications of a quiet Care Home run deep. Get in touch today to find out how we can help your home become a quieter, calmer, and more tranquil environment.

For more information email us at:  [email protected]

Written by

Barry Vacher

Date

27.07.21