All rights reserved.In our daily lives, the world bombards us with bustling environments, vibrant sights, and cascading sounds. Based on patient and expert opinions, visual and auditory stimuli are desired by patients and could help address these issues.Īuditory stimulation Intensive care unit Interviews Mixed-methods Questionnaires Virtual reality Visual stimulation.Ĭopyright © 2022 The Author(s). Sensory overload and deprivation are common problems in the intensive care unit with negative effects on patient outcomes. Visual stimuli should not exceed 10-15 min, while auditory stimuli should not exceed one hour. When appropriate, audio matching the content should be provided alongside the visual stimuli to act as a distraction from the hospital environment.

Photographs, television, and virtual reality were the visual stimuli most chosen by the patients, with an emphasis on nature-focused content. Overall, patient and expert opinions aligned well both groups agreed that receiving visual and/or auditory stimuli would benefit patients. Data were collected from the former patients using structured interviews, whereas semi-structured interviews were used for the nursing experts. Based on current practice, patients and nurses were familiar with receiving and providing television, photographs, radio, and musical stimuli, with no specific exposure to virtual reality, aside from that in their personal lives. In total, 31 participants were interviewed: 19 were former critically ill patients in the intensive care unit and 12 were nursing experts, all from a university hospital in Switzerland. This mixed-methods study followed an exploratory-descriptive design.

Electronic address: determine what type (e.g., television, photographs, music, etc), content (e.g., nature scenes, family members, etc), and duration of visual and auditory stimuli should be provided to intensive care unit patients during their hospitalisation. Electronic address: 5 Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, FreiburgstraBern, Switzerland Institute of Nursing Science (INS), Department of Public Health (DPH), Faculty of Medicine, University of Basel, BernoullistraBasel, Switzerland. Electronic address: 4 Gerontechnology and Rehabilitation Group, ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, University of Bern, MurtenstraBern, Switzerland Department of Neurology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, FreiburgstraBern, Switzerland. Electronic address: 3 Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, FreiburgstraBern, Switzerland. Electronic address: 2 Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, FreiburgstraBern, Switzerland. 1 Gerontechnology and Rehabilitation Group, ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, University of Bern, MurtenstraBern, Switzerland.

Sensory overload auditory