Cardiocentre Nitra

Project: Cardiocentre Nitra

Segment: Healthcare

Country/city: Slovakia, Nitra

Architect: barak architekti

Photographer: Tomáš Haverlík

Production year: 2023

Cardiocentre Nitra also treats using silence

In the last 40 years, hospital noise has risen to 70 decibels, with the World Health Organization recommending a maximum of 35 decibels. Noise in the hospital environment increases patients' risk of cardiovascular problems, intensifies pain and worsens stress. This increases the total time required for recovery.

With the completion of the Cardiocentre Nitra, 39 new beds were added in the region in modern premises with top equipment. The interest of the hospital management was that the patients, despite their serious health condition, felt as comfortable as possible and the staff had the greatest possible work comfort. High-quality spatial acoustics are an inherent part of this.

Therefore, the hospital decided to equip the premises with acoustic panels Ecophon Focus™ E, Ecophon Hygiene Clinic™ E and Ecophon Hygiene Advance™ A. It started in the ICU.

"In the ICU, there are patients who require the most intensive medical care. Hospitalisation and treatment is stressful for them, and acoustic solutions that reduce noise and thereby create a pleasant environment help alleviate this stress and improve their well-being," says Stanislav Rybiansky, the hospital's procurator.

But that was just the beginning. According to the hospital, work well-being is now much better in other rooms where the room acoustics solution was installed. This applies especially to medical rooms, where the concentration of employees is relatively high and the noise is considerable. The hospital mainly sees the following benefits in acoustic panels:

• Improving communication: healthcare workers must be able to communicate with patients and with each other in an environment with minimal noise. Excessive noise can impair communication, create a stressful environment and thus lead to errors in treatment.
• Stress reduction: Hospitalisation is stressful for patients and acoustic panels help to reduce this stress by creating a more favourable atmosphere.
• Improving sleep quality: A noisy hospital environment can have a negative impact on the sleep quality of hospitalised patients, which can cause other health problems. Reducing noise can help improve sleep quality and thereby speed up the healing and recovery process.

This top centre for comprehensive cardiology care is in charge of patients from the Nitra, Trenčín and Trnava regions, i.e. from an area with approximately 1.5 million inhabitants.