Assessing and comparing physical environments for nursing home residents: using new tools for greater research specificity
2006
The Gerontologist
Journal Article
Issue 1
Volume 46
Pages 42-51
Author(s): Cutler, L. J., Kane, R. A., Degenholtz, H. B., Miller, M. J., Grant, L.
At the time of this article’s publication (2018), there was an estimated population of two million elderly patients living in nursing homes. The authors suggest that approaches for optimizing the designs of nursing homes are unclear and relatively unexplored, resulting in negative connotations towards nursing homes among residents and the public alike.
Added August 2018
Space, Choice and Control, and Quality of Life in Care Settings for Older People
2006
Environment and Behavior
Journal Article
Issue 5
Volume 38
Pages 589-604
Author(s): Barnes, S.
In Britain, residential care and nursing homes for elderly patients have been subject to changing design regulations over several decades. These regulations take into account the “gradations of space” allotted to patients, meaning the extent to which the buildings themselves provide public, semiprivate, and private spaces for the patients.
Added December 2014
Visiting Outdoor Green Environments Positively Iimpacts Self-Rated Health among Older People In Long-Term Care
2006
HortTechnology
Journal Article
Issue 1
Volume 16
Pages 55-59
Author(s): Rappe, E., Kivela, S. L., Rita, H.
The restorative effects of nature in enhancing well-being are well documented. Seeing greenery or being in nature reduces stress, promotes attention capacity, and improves mood. Studies of older people living in institutions indicate positive associations between well-being of the residents and closeness of a green environment. Visiting an outdoor green environment is associated with better ability to concentrate and improved mood among the older people living in nursing homes. Plants and garden environments may contribute to psychological and social well-being of older people with dementia, according to nursing staff. Although health-related factors can impact on self-rated health among the older people living in nursing care, results from previous studies indicate that outdoor visits may also have an impact.
Added November 2014
Sustained reduction in serious fall-related injuries in older people in hospital.
2006
The Medical journal of Australia
Journal Article
Issue 8
Volume 184
Pages 379-382
Author(s): Fonda, D., Cook, J., Sandler, V., Bailey, M.
Falls are the leading cause of injury in Australian hospitals, with 38 percent of all hospital incidents related to falls. In hospital settings, single interventions have not been proven successful in preventing or reducing falls, whereas multisystem or multi-strategy approaches have shown to be more effective.
Added November 2014
Caring or uncaring – meanings of being in an oncology environment
2006
Journal of Advanced Nursing
Journal Article
Issue 2
Volume 55
Pages 188-197
Author(s): Edvardsson, D., Sandman, P. O., Rasmussen, B.
The idea that the physical environment impacts health and well-being has been explored throughout history. In modern contexts, studies have been conducted to show how hospital design features such as art and views of natural scenery can positively influence patient experience, and how environmental variables such as sound, architecture, and color can affect different biomedical responses in...
Added November 2014
An exploration of the meanings of space and place in acute psychiatric care
2006
Issues in Mental Health Nursing
Journal Article
Issue 6
Volume 27
Pages 699-707
Author(s): Andes, M., Shattell, M. M.
The effectiveness of acute psychiatric care (or short-term psychiatric care) owes much to the design of the physical space inhabited by both patients and mental health professionals. The structure of psychiatric care centers and the barriers they either create or remove between patients and healthcare practitioners can potentially influence patient recovery and employee well-being. Some argue that private, physically exclusionary spaces designed specifically for nurses are necessary in order to protect sensitive information and provide psychological solace for the nurses themselves.
Added November 2014
Medication Dispensing Errors and Potential Adverse Drug Events before and after Implementing Bar Code Technology in the Pharmacy
2006
Annals of Internal Medicine
Journal Article
Issue 6
Volume 145
Pages 426-434
Author(s): Poon, E. G., Cina, J. L., Churchill, W., Patel, N., Featherstone, E., Rothschild, J. M., Keohane, C. A., Whittemore, A. D., Bates, D. W., Gandhi, T. K.
Medication errors are errors that occur while ordering, transcribing, dispensing, administering, or monitoring medications. Medication dispensing errors refer to discrepancies between a prescription and the medication dispensed by a pharmacist.
Added November 2014
Keep music live: music and the alleviation of apathy in dementia subjects
2006
International Psychogeriatrics / IPA
Journal Article
Issue 4
Volume 18
Pages 623-630
Author(s): Holmes, C., Knights, A., Dean, C., Hodkinson, S., Hopkins, V.
Over 50% of all people diagnosed with dementia reportedly exhibit apathetic or socially withdrawn behaviors. These behaviors are often problematic for the patients themselves as well as for the individuals tending to the patient’s needs. Treatment with antidepressants is common in these situations, but their effectiveness is supported only by weak evidence, and the issue of over-prescription and its subsequent adverse effects has become a major problem in healthcare environments.
Added September 2014
Radical Redesign of Nursing Homes: Applying the Green House Concept in Tupelo, Mississippi
2006
The Gerontologist
Journal Article
Issue 4
Volume 46
Pages 533-539
Author(s): Rabig, J., Thomas, W., Kane, R. A., Cutler, L. J., McAlilly, S.
The Green House design should be considered as nursing home resident numbers are growing. Early experiences with the “pod-like” structure show positive effects on residents, families, and staff.
Added September 2014
A decade of adult intensive care unit design: a study of the physical design features of the best-practice examples
2006
Critical Care Nursing Quarterly
Journal Article
Issue 4
Volume 29
Pages 282-311
Author(s): Rashid, M., Abushousheh, A.
This article reports a study of the physical design characteristics of a set of adult intensive care units (ICUs), built between 1993 and 2003. These ICUs were recognized as the best-practice examples by the Society of Critical Care Medicine, the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, and the American Institute of Architects.
Added July 2014
Ceiling lifts reduce patient-handling injuries
2006
Healthcare Design
Journal Article
Issue 1
Volume 6
Pages 10-13
Author(s): Joseph, A., Fritz, L.
Nurses and nurse aides who have direct interaction with patients, performing manual lifting and transferring activities, are at a particularly high risk of injury and back pain. There are significant reductions in the incidence of injury when staff uses mechanical lift equipment vs. manual lifting techniques. In comparison with floor mechanical lift equipment, ceiling-mounted lifts are superior due to their ease of use, storage, and patient safety.
Added July 2014
Perceived hospital environment quality indicators: A study of orthopaedic units
2006
Journal of Environmental Psychology
Journal Article
Issue 4
Volume 26
Pages 321-334
Author(s): Fornara, F., Bonaiuto, M., Bonnes, M.
The field of healthcare design has increasingly recognized the need for building environments that are more ‘‘user-centered,’’ but spatial–physical features have not typically been included in assessment surveys on patient satisfaction.
Added July 2014
Presence and Visibility of Outdoor and Indoor Physical Activity Features and Participation in Physical Activity Among Older Adults in Retirement Communities
2006
Journal of Housing for the Elderly
Journal Article
Issue 3/-4
Volume 19
Pages 141-165
Author(s): Joseph, A., Zimring, C., Harris-Kojetin, L., Kiefer, K.
Regular physical activity contributes to better health among old and very old individuals, allowing them to remain independent for a longer period of time. As with other factors, researchers are increasingly examining the role of the physical setting in encouraging or discouraging physical activity and providing convergent evidence on neighborhood design associated with physical activity by older people.
Added July 2014
Impact of Extended-Duration Shifts on Medical Errors, Adverse Events and Attentional Failures
2006
Public Library of Science Medicine
Journal Article
Issue 12
Volume 3
Pages 2440-2448
Author(s): Barger, L.K. , Ayas,N.T., Cade,B.E., Cronin, J.W., Rosner, B. , Speizer, F.E., Czeisler, C.A.
In the United States, medical students who are doing their internship (first year of postgraduate clinical training) regularly work in the clinic for longer than 24 hours at a time. There has been empirical evidence that the extended-duration shifts commonly worked by medical interns in hospitals may contribute to the risk of medical errors being made, and perhaps to the risk of adverse events more generally. The current study assessed whether extended-duration shifts worked by interns are associated with significant medical errors, adverse events, and attentional failures in a diverse population of interns across the United States.
Added May 2014
Considering the impact of medicine label design characteristics on patient safety
2006
Ergonomics
Journal Article
Issue 5-6
Volume 49
Pages 617-30
Author(s): Hellier, E. , Edworthy, J. , Derbyshire, N. , Costello, A.
The premise of this study is that there is sufficient evidence-based research in areas such as food labeling, chemical labeling, and general warnings that provides systematic evidence on the effects of medication label design characteristics such as font size, color, use of specific language and signal words/warnings on performance behavioral variables such as safety, compliance, understandability, and discriminability.
Added April 2014
Nurses’ Perception of Single-Occupancy Versus Multioccupancy Rooms in Acute Care Environments: An Exploratory Comparative Assessment
2006
Applied Nursing Research
Journal Article
Issue 3
Volume 19
Pages 118-125
Author(s): Chaudhury, H., Mahmood, A., Valente, M.
As people are living longer and the baby boomers age, the demand for hospital beds will increase. As new facilities are built to handle this influx of patients, the challenge for hospital designers and administrators is to design patient rooms that promote therapeutic goals, foster positive patient outcomes, and function as intensive care rooms. Recent research suggests that single-occupancy rooms are more suitable for infection control and patient care than multioccupancy rooms. However, no research has been done about nursing staff members’ perception of single-occupancy and multioccupancy patient rooms in acute care settings as it relates to patient care.
Added April 2014
Challenges in Design and Transition to a Private Room Model in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
2006
Advances in Neonatal Care
Journal Article
Issue 5
Volume 6
Pages 271-280
Author(s): Carlson, B., Walsh, S., Wergin, T., Schwarzkopf, K., Ecklund, S.
The need for neonatal intensive care units (NICU) is increasing at a time when research suggests their designs need to change to provide a developmentally appropriate healing environment. One approach is a private room NICU model versus a large multibed ward. However, such a radical design change could be challenging to implement.
Added April 2014
A controlled trial of the impact of exposure to positive images of dentistry on anticipatory dental fear in children
Issue 6
Volume 34
Pages 455-459
Author(s): Fox, C., Newton, J.
Many children are anxious about visiting the dentist, but viewing positive images of dentistry for 2 minutes in the waiting room prior to their appointment significantly reduced study participants’ anticipatory dental anxiety.
Added March 2014
Effect of built-environment factors on healthcare: Satisfaction, operations, and outcomes
2006
Healthcare Design
Journal Article
Issue 3
Volume 6
Pages 8-10
Author(s): Etchegaray, J., Fischer, W., Sisolak, J., Lipka, S.
Reduced noise levels, pleasant distractions, safety features, wayfinding systems, support spaces, and patient/family/caregiver control reduces stress, errors, and pain, while at the same time increasing referrals and staff retention.
Added October 2012
Physical environmental stimuli that turn healthcare facilities into healing environments through psychologically mediated effects: systematic review
2006
Journal of Advanced Nursing
Journal Article
Issue 2
Volume 56
Pages 166-181
Author(s): Dijkstra, K., Pieterse, M., Pruyn, A.
Design features of healthcare spaces can be said to impact the health and well-being of patients either directly or indirectly. A direct influence of a design feature means that the impact is not mediated in any way and therefore has a direct effect on patients (e.g., germs sitting in a carpet surface). An indirect influence is one in which the environmental stimuli act through a psychological process of sensory perceptions (e.g., carpet may be perceived as a home environment and may decrease the patient’s stress). This paper is focused on finding research data that had an indirect influence.
Added October 2012
