Tip: To sleep, or not, in the hospital

Anyone who has spent a night in a hospital knows it is often the best place to get good care. Getting a good night's sleep is a different matter.

The constant din from the staff and equipment makes sleeping difficult, if not impossible. And a new study puts a number to the noise: At its loudest, it rivals the roar of a power mower or a freight train.

The study, published last month in the Archives of Internal Medicine, found that more than 40 percent of patients said hospital noise affected their sleep. The study noted that poor sleep is more than an annoyance. It can affect a patient's recovery.

Unfortunately, there's not a lot a patient can do. One of the study's authors told Reuters that patients should at least request the door to their room be kept closed. Wearing earplugs while sleeping also may help muffle some of the noise.