The Efficacy of Visual Cues to Improve Hand Hygiene Compliance
2010
Simulation in Healthcare
Journal Article
Issue 6
Volume 5
Pages 325-331
Author(s): Nevo, Igal, Fitzpatrick, Maureen, Thomas, Ruth-Everett, Gluck, Paul A., Lenchus, Joshua D., Arheart, Kristopher L., Birnbach, David J.
Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) affect patients at hospitals and other facilities. Hand hygiene compliance (HHC) among healthcare workers is important and was called upon by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2009 for improvement and sustainability.
Added June 2016
Developing the Birth Unit Design Spatial Evaluation Tool (BUDSET) in Australia: A Qualitative Study
2010
Health Environments Research & Design Journal
Journal Article
Issue 4
Volume 3
Pages 43-57
Author(s): Foureur, M., Leap, N., Davis, D., Forbes, I., & Homer, C.
To develop a tool to assess the “optimality” of birth unit design. This is important because “Optimal birth spaces are likely to enable women to have physiologically normal labor and birth.”
Added January 2016
From “Baby Barn” to the “Single Family Room Designed NICU”: A Report of Staff Perceptions One Year Post Occupancy
2010
Newborn and Infant Nursing Reviews
Journal Article
Issue 2
Volume 10
Pages 97-103
Author(s): Cone, S. K., Short, S., Gutcher, G.
Single Family Rooms (SFRs) are becoming an increasingly popular design model in the care of critically ill preterm infants. The advantages of this physical environment to the infant, family and care providers is well documented.
Added July 2015
Pre-versus post-occupancy evaluation of daylight quality in hospitals
2010
Building and Environment
Journal Article
Issue 12
Volume 45
Pages 2652-2665
Author(s): Alzoubi, H., Al-Rqaibat, S., Bataineh, R. F.
Studies show that most hospital occupants prefer natural daylight to electrical light. Daylight can be used to optimize patient comfort by creating a more attractive indoor setting. Daylight has been linked to higher levels of staff performance and productivity along with reduced energy use and hospital emissions. Comparisons of pre- and post-occupancy lighting levels evaluate how well a space being put to use matches the predicted situation.
Added March 2015
Optimizing Emergency Department Front-End Operations
2010
Annals of Emergency Medicine
Journal Article
Issue 2
Volume 55
Pages 142-160.e1
Author(s): Wiler, J. L., Gentle, C., Halfpenny, J. M., Heins, A., Mehrotra, A., Mikhail, M. G., Fite, D.
Added March 2015
Space to care and treat safely in acute hospitals: Recommendations from 1866 to 2008
2010
Applied Ergonomics
Journal Article
Issue 5
Volume 41
Pages 666-673
Author(s): Hignett, S., Lu, J.
Bed space, defined in this study as the area around an individual bed offering privacy either as a curtained or screened cubicle or a single room in a ward holding multiple occupants, is the most frequently repeated design envelope in an acute care hospital. Since patients, staff, visitors, and other people will occupy this space at one point or another for a variety of different purposes, a complex design challenge exists. In 1893, Florence Nightingale successfully argued for less cramped bedrooms and overall improvements in hospital designs.
Added December 2014
Targeting environmental factors to reduce elderly in-patient falls.
2010
Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Human Factors and Ergonomics in Healthcare/ 3rd International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics [AHFE], 17-20 July 2010, Miami, USA.
Journal Article
Author(s): Hignett, S., Sands, G., Youde, J., Griffiths, P.
Inpatient falls have consistently been the biggest single category of reported incidents since the 1940s; they are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality and have a high prevalence after admission to hospital. The incident rate for falls is approximately three times higher in hospitals and nursing homes than in community-dwelling older people. It has been suggested that this may be due to a combination of extrinsic risk factors (relating to the environment), for example, unfamiliar environment and wheeled furniture, combined with intrinsic risk factors (relating to the patient) such as confusion, acute illness, and balance-affecting medication.
Added November 2014
Pragmatic, Cluster Randomized Trial of a Policy to Introduce Low-Low Beds to Hospital Wards for the Prevention of Falls and Fall Injuries
2010
Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
Journal Article
Issue 3
Volume 58
Pages 435-441
Author(s): Haines, T. P., Bell, R. A. R., Varghese, P. N.
Falls by hospitalized older adults are a common and potentially debilitating adverse event. In the United States, Medicare no longer confers incremental payments to hospitals for eight secondary conditions that it perceives as preventable complications of medical care, with falls from bed being one of these. Development of a policy to introduce low-low beds, which reduce the potential for injury if patients fall from the bed, on hospital wards is attractive, given the hypothesized benefits.
Added November 2014
Applying root cause analysis to improve patient safety: decreasing falls in postpartum women.
2010
Quality & Safety in Health Care
Journal Article
Issue 2
Volume 19
Pages 138-143
Author(s): Chen, K. H., Chen, L. R., Su, S.
The objective of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of interventions to prevent falls designed through hazard analysis using root cause analysis.
Added November 2014
Method for Automated Monitoring of Hand Hygiene Adherence without Radio-Frequency Identification
2010
Infection control and hospital epidemiology : the official journal of the Society of Hospital Epidemiologists of America
Journal Article
Issue 12
Volume 31
Pages 1294-1297
Author(s): Polgreen, P. M., Hlady, C. S., Severson, M. A., Segre, A. M., Herman, T.
Added November 2014
Effects of music intervention on physiological stress response and anxiety level of mechanically ventilated patients in China: A randomised controlled trial
2010
Journal of Clinical Nursing
Journal Article
Issue 7‐8
Volume 19
Pages 978-987
Author(s): Han, L., Li, J. P., Sit, J. W. H., Chung, L., Jiao, Z. Y., Ma, W. G.
Mechanical ventilation (MV) is one of the most common treatments used in intensive care units (ICUs). MV is known for causing stress and anxiety in patients due to frequent instances of sleep deprivation, pain, fear, communication difficulties, loneliness, and lack of control. Heightened levels of anxiety can manifest in various detrimental physiological responses and ultimately lead to a sicker patient.
Added September 2014
Detecting potential pathogens on hospital surfaces: An assessment of carpet tile flooring in the hospital patient environment
2010
Indoor and Built Environment
Journal Article
Issue 2
Volume 19
Pages 239-249
Author(s): Harris, D. D., Pacheco, A., Lindner, A. S.
Several studies demonstrate a connection between the hospital environment and hospital-acquired infections (HAIs). The bacterial pathogens more frequently associated with HAIs include Clostridium difficile (C. difficile), Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE).
Added September 2014
Role of hospital surfaces in the transmission of emerging health care-associated pathogens: Norovirus, Clostridium difficile, and Acinetobacter species
2010
American Journal of Infection Control
Journal Article
Issue 5, Supplement
Volume 38
Pages S25-S33
Author(s): Weber, D. J., Rutala, W. A., Miller, M. B., Huslage, K., Sickbert-Bennett, E.
Added September 2014
Comparative study on efficacy of different alcohol hand rubs and routine hand wash in a health-care setting, Alexandria, Egypt.
2010
Journal of the Egypt Public Health Association
Journal Article
Issue 5 & 6
Volume 85
Pages 273-283
Author(s): Abaza, A. F.,, Amine, A. E., Hazzah, W. A.
Hand hygiene, which refers to routine hand wash, antiseptic hand wash, antiseptic hand rub, or surgical hand antisepsis, is universally acknowledged as a cornerstone of the prevention of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). The impact of hand hygiene depends not only on the regularity and thoroughness of the procedures used but also on the type of hand-washing agent selected.
Added August 2014
Centralized vs. Decentralized Nursing Stations: Effects on Nurses’ Functional Use of Space and Work Environment
2010
Health Environments Research and Design Journal (HERD)
Journal Article
Issue 4
Volume 3
Pages 19-42
Author(s): Zborowsky, T., Bunker Hellmich, L., Morelli, A., O’Neill, M.
Information technology enables nurses to move away from traditional centralized paper-charting stations to smaller decentralized work stations and charting substations located closer to, or inside of, patient rooms. Understanding the tradeoffs presented by centralized and decentralized nursing station design could provide useful information for future design and the nurse environment "fit."
Added May 2014
Multisensory Stimulation to Improve Functional Performance in Moderate to Severe Dementia—Interim Results
2010
American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias
Journal Article
Issue 8
Volume 25
Pages 698–703
Author(s): Collier, L., McPherson, K., Ellis-Hill, C., Staal, J., Bucks, R.
One of the innovative interventions for dementia care is the use of multisensory environments (MSEs). It is designed to stimulate senses, providing an activity-based intervention and is argued to address imbalance in sensory stimulation by pacing sensory-stimulating activity with sensory-calming activity. This sensory pacing may assist people with dementia in coping with confusion and behavior changes that are the consequences of this progressive, debilitating illness. However, the value of MSEs for people with dementia has yet to be established. Therefore, this study aimed to explore to what extent the sensory components of MSEs influence functional performance in people with moderate to severe dementia.
Added May 2014
Health Care Wayfinding Integrates Four Aspects to Become Carefinding
2010
American Society for Healthcare Engineering
Monograph
Author(s): Cooper, R.
Carefinding is a term that refers to an evidence-based approach to designing wayfinding systems in healthcare settings, catering to the needs of the users of those spaces, particularly patients and their caregivers. Successful wayfinding in healthcare facilities requires consideration of the user experience, the wayfinding process, the wayfinding plan, and implementation of the plan.
Added March 2014
Adding additional grab bars as a possible strategy for safer hospital stays
2010
Applied Nursing Research
Journal Article
Issue 1
Volume 23
Pages 45-51
Author(s): Tzeng, H.-M., Yin, C.-Y., Schechtman,S.
Inpatient falls are the most commonly reported incidents in hospitals, yet they are largely avoidable and, therefore, an unsolved issue in patient care. It comes as no surprise that patient falls tend to occur most frequently in patient rooms, patient bathrooms, and hallways—the places in which patients spend the majority of their time during their hospital stay. Falls are attributed to breakdowns in communication between patients and caregivers, inadequate assistance, and also the design of the physical environment.
Added February 2014
Impact of Medication Storage Cabinets on Efficient Delivery of Medication and Employee Frustration
2010
Journal of Nursing Care Quality
Journal Article
Issue 4
Volume 25
Pages 352-357
Author(s): Hull, T., Czirr, L. , Wilson, M.
Safe medication administration is essential to ensuring positive patient outcomes and is a priority in healthcare institutions. Recent innovations in technology and automation are designed to eliminate errors as well as move activities closer to the patient’s bedside to improve nursing workflow. It has been postulated that moving medications and supplies closer to the point of care reduces nurses’ traveling time and makes it easier to administer medication.
Added January 2014
Noise in the Operating Room—What Do We Know? A Review of the Literature
2010
Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing
Journal Article
Issue 6
Volume 25
Pages 380-386
Author(s): Hasfeldt, D., Laerkner, E., Birkelund, R.
Noise is a general stressor and should be avoided in the operating room (OR). However, over the last 10 years, while the focus has been on preventing air pollution and maximizing sterility in the OR, very little attention has gone toward preventing noise pollution. Meanwhile, there is more and more noisy technological equipment in the OR, and it can be assumed that problems with noise in the OR have not decreased.
Added January 2014