Studies suggest that patients need peace and quiet to heal, yet hospitals are some of the noisiest places around, in part due to the constant alarming of monitors. The VA Boston Healthcare System recently placed noise meters on a patient floor and found that night-and day - decibel levels exceed recommendations by the World Health Organization for patients to sleep. In fact, nighttime noise levels where similar to a vacuum cleaner and toilets flushing nearby. This is tied to the importance of reducing the huge number of false alarms. The alarms not only contribute to alarm fatigue, but also may be interfering with patient sleep and therefore, healing.