Facility Planning Part Iii
Facility Planning Part III
Carole Kindt
University of Phoenix
August 23, 2008 Facility Planning Part III
Visiting a hospital can be a stressful and scary event for the patient and their family. Working in a hospital also can be stressful and induce fatigue in the healthcare workers charged with taking the stress out of their patients visit. Studies have shown that just as evidence-based medicine provides good patient outcome, research into evidence-based design is showing that the physical environment of hospitals has an impact on patient and staff outcomes (Ulrich, Quan, Zimring, Joseph, & Choudhary, 2004). The aim of the heart hospital’s renovation is in keeping with its value system and concern not just for good patient outcomes but also in quality health outcomes in their staff. The hospital has designed a gym and lounge area that will allow their staff to benefit from the stress relieving benefits of exercise and also to relax in the lounge on shift breaks and lunch. The author chose this facility because of its commitment to its patients and staff. The board has a 10-year strategic plan in place that seeks not just to increase the number of patients it serves, but to increase the number of long-term employees it has by making the facility a quality place to work (personal communication, M. Brown, August 14, 2008).
This author found the process of planning a renovation daunting and frustrating but learned along the way that whether the project is real or not pre-planning is the most important step (Erickson & Lyon, 2008). Had more time been spent by the author assuring that the complete assignment was understood another facility design that focused more on patient care would probably have been more appropriate for this project.
Along the way some important new things were learned by this author. The link between the physical setting to patient outcomes stands out. While it may seem only logical that a pleasant atmosphere helps healing it is
Carole Kindt
University of Phoenix
August 23, 2008 Facility Planning Part III
Visiting a hospital can be a stressful and scary event for the patient and their family. Working in a hospital also can be stressful and induce fatigue in the healthcare workers charged with taking the stress out of their patients visit. Studies have shown that just as evidence-based medicine provides good patient outcome, research into evidence-based design is showing that the physical environment of hospitals has an impact on patient and staff outcomes (Ulrich, Quan, Zimring, Joseph, & Choudhary, 2004). The aim of the heart hospital’s renovation is in keeping with its value system and concern not just for good patient outcomes but also in quality health outcomes in their staff. The hospital has designed a gym and lounge area that will allow their staff to benefit from the stress relieving benefits of exercise and also to relax in the lounge on shift breaks and lunch. The author chose this facility because of its commitment to its patients and staff. The board has a 10-year strategic plan in place that seeks not just to increase the number of patients it serves, but to increase the number of long-term employees it has by making the facility a quality place to work (personal communication, M. Brown, August 14, 2008).
This author found the process of planning a renovation daunting and frustrating but learned along the way that whether the project is real or not pre-planning is the most important step (Erickson & Lyon, 2008). Had more time been spent by the author assuring that the complete assignment was understood another facility design that focused more on patient care would probably have been more appropriate for this project.
Along the way some important new things were learned by this author. The link between the physical setting to patient outcomes stands out. While it may seem only logical that a pleasant atmosphere helps healing it is
References: Erickson, L., & Lyon, T. (2008). How to Fix a Flawed Process: the Four Rules of Work Design. Family Practice Mangement, 15(6), 29-33. Retrieved August 1, 2008, from Academic Search Complete database Web Site: http://support.ebcso.com La Torre, M. (2006). Creating a Healing Environment. Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 42(4), 262-264. Retrieved August 13, 2008, from doi:1-.111/j.1744-6163-2006.00086.x Web Site: http://support.ebsco.com Ulrich, R., Quan, X., Zimring, C., Joseph, A., & Choudhary, R. (2004). The Role of the Physical Environment in the Hospital of the 21st Century: A once-in-a-lifetime Opportunity. Retrieved August 14, 2008, from http://www.healthdesign.org/research/reports