Comprehensibility of universal healthcare symbols for wayfinding in healthcare facilities
2014
Applied Ergonomics
Journal Article
Issue 4
Volume 45
Pages 878-885
Author(s): Lee, S., Dazkir, S. S., Paik, H. S., Coskun, A.
In today’s globalized medical industry, patients might travel to foreign countries to receive higher quality or more affordable forms of healthcare. This modern trend has emphasized the need to develop graphic symbols used in hospitals that allow people from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds to more easily navigate their way around foreign hospitals.
Added November 2014
Factors influencing evaluation of patient areas, work spaces, and staff areas by healthcare professionals
2013
Indoor and Built Environment
Journal Article
Author(s): Sadatsafavi, H., Walewski, J., Shepley, M. M.
One important element of high-quality healthcare delivery is a motivated and satisfied staff. Healthcare executives should regularly examine the factors that influence clinicians’ perceptions of satisfaction and quality so that necessary changes can be addressed.
Added November 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
An Evaluation of Operating Room Safety and Efficiency: Pilot Utilization of a Structured Focus Group Format and Three-Dimensional Video Mock-Up To Inform Design Decision Making
2011
HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal
Journal Article
Issue 1
Volume 5
Pages 6-22
Author(s): Watkins, N., Kobelja, M., Peavey, E., Thomas, S., Lyon, J.
While surgical and interventional procedures are the most profitable services within the hospital, the cost of building and maintaining an OR can quickly reduce the profitability of running an OR. Due to this precarious balance of revenue and cost, the planning and design of an OR should look to reduce injury to staff and prevent unnecessary costs, while increasing operational efficiencies.
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
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
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
Intra-unit patient transports: time, motion, and cost impact on hospital efficiency
2005
Nursing Economic$
Journal Article
Issue 4
Volume 23
Pages 157-164
Author(s): Hendrich, A. L., Lee, N.
Transferring patients can be stressful and confusing for patients and their families. In addition, risks to the patient increase during transfers. Thus, many healthcare facilities are trying to reduce patient transfers by providing more flexible patient rooms.
Added May 2014
Psychiatric Ward Renovation: Staff Perception and Patient Behavior
1992
Environment and Behavior
Journal Article
Issue 1
Volume 24
Pages 66-84
Author(s): Devlin, A. S.
Added May 2014
Physical Environment: The Major Determinant Towards the Creation of a Healing Environment?
2011
Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences
Journal Article
Volume 30
Pages 1951-1958
Author(s): Abbas, M. Y., Ghazali, R.,
Prior research suggests that the pediatric population’s heightened perception of the quality of the physical environment can have an impact on the creation of a healing environment.
Added April 2014
Quality Physical Environment in Paediatric Wards: Designer’s Creation Versus Users’ Satisfaction
2012
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences
Journal Article
Author(s): Ghazali, R., Abbas, M. Y.
Prior research has revealed that an optimal healing environment can enhance a child’s quality of life by supporting the healing process. However, little has been done to identify specific design features within an optimal healing environment that either impede or aid the healing process.
Added April 2014
The Effect of Environmental Design on Reducing Nursing Errors and Increasing Efficiency in Acute Care Settings: A Review and Analysis of the Literature
2009
Environment and Behavior
Journal Article
Issue 6
Volume 41
Pages 755-786
Author(s): Chaudhury, H., Mahmood, A., Valente, M.
In acute care settings, the physical environment plays an important role in staff efficiency and patient safety. Some research suggests that poor environments can result in staff stress, anxiety, and distractions due to noise; artificial lighting; improper or inadequate ventilation; and disorienting layouts of nursing units. There is less research on how environmental factors affect nursing staff health, effectiveness, errors, and job satisfaction.
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
Enhancing the traditional hospital design process: a focus on patient safety
March 2004
The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Safety
Journal Article
Issue 3
Volume 30
Pages 115-24
Author(s): Reiling, J.G., Knutzen, B.L., Wallen, T.K., McCullough, S. , Miller, R., Chernos, S.
The current study is an overview of innovative system engineering and patient safety factors, named as the Synergy model that a hospital system utilized to design their new facility.
Added April 2014
Noise and related events in neonatal intensive care unit
2001
Acta Paediatrical Taiwanica
Journal Article
Issue 4
Volume 42
Pages 212-217
Author(s): Chang, Y. J., Lin, C. H., Lin, L. H.
Noise contributes to environmental stress to premature infants, who often spend long periods of time in neonatal intensive care units (NICU). Some research indicates that noise contributes to higher incidences of hearing loss, as well as cardiovascular, respirator, endocrine, and behavioral deficits. Some of the noise might be reduced by studying different aspects of NICU settings (i.e., wards, personnel, equipment, and procedures).
Added April 2014
Using a Task Analysis to Describe Nursing Work in Acute Care Patient Environments
2009
Journal of Nursing Administration
Journal Article
Issue 12
Volume 39
Pages 537-547
Author(s): Battisto, D., Pak, R., Vander Wood, M. A., Pilcher, J. J.
A growing body of research demonstrates linkages between workplace design and processes in healthcare facilities with staff and patient safety, operational efficiency, staff satisfaction, and medical errors. There has been less emphasis on the role of the built environment in helping or hindering care delivery. Research is needed on the contextualized activities performed by nurses and how nurses spend their time to measure the effects of interventions aimed at redesigning care to improve safety or efficiency or to understand the implications of policy changes for nursing practice.
Added April 2014
Nurses’ Perceptions of How physical Environment Affects Medication Errors in Acute Care Settings
2011
Applied Nursing Research
Journal Article
Issue 4
Volume 24
Pages 229–237
Author(s): Mahmood, A., Chaudhury, H., Valente, M.
Medication errors in hospitals occur for a number of reasons, stemming from staff and organizational issues to aspects of the physical environment. Errors include omissions, giving the wrong type or amount of medication, and giving the wrong patient unneeded medication. Research has indicated that a significant amount of these errors are avoidable.
Added February 2014
The development and piloting of electronic standardized measures on nursing work: combining engineering and nursing knowledge
2013
Journal of Nursing Management
Journal Article
Issue 4
Volume 21
Pages 679-689
Author(s): Bradadottir, H., Gunnarsdottir, S., Ingason, H.
As healthcare resources decline and the demand for nurses increases, it is even more important than ever to understand nursing work to make sure it is done efficiently and safely. Finding no existing computerized measures, the authors developed measures and a computer program for this study.
Added January 2014
Design of circulation axes in densely used polyclinic waiting halls
2007
Building and Environment
Journal Article
Issue 4
Volume 42
Pages 1743-1751
Author(s): Akalin-Baskaya, A., Yildirim, K.
The purpose of this article is to explore whether spatial definition can affect the perceptual evaluations of users in highly dense conditions. The particular spatial definition studied in this research was the relationship between circulation axes and seating areas of a waiting hall. In crowded public interiors, it is generally assumed that users feel less comfortable and less safe. As suggested...
Added October 2012
