Helping hospital foot soldiers take work in their stride.

Today's news stories often feature coverage of nurses on strike across the nation. The reasons for their strikes vary, usually focused on health coverage or salaries instead of the workplace atmosphere.

Designers have no control over how staff is managed. However, we create the physical environment in which the hospital staff, most of which are nurses, spend the majority of their day. As a result, we can have a positive impact on how the workplace affects nurses' workdays.

Design of medical facilities must incorporate patient and employee needs so the healthcare facility may provide optimum service to their patients. According to a 2004 survey by the Health Resources and Services Administration, the national average age for nurses is rising, and they should be made as comfortable as possible. Nurses are integral to the success of a patient visit. By incorporating their needs, the healthcare facility will run more smoothly.

When designing a healthcare facility, we keep in mind that nurses spend all day on their feet. Between checking on patients, running to the labs and answering calls, nurses have little time to sit down or rest. Even during slower time periods, nurses are usually standing.

To relieve foot and back pain, designers can incorporate material that eases foot discomfort in the selection of flooring. Traditional flooring can be unforgiving to the body especially when stood on for long periods of time. The use of resilient flooring with a closed-cell foam backing layer can help ease foot and back-related discomfort.

This type of flooring also has sound-reducing properties that will maintain a more quiet and less chaotic work environment. The extra cushioning provided by the foam-backed flooring enables heavy equipment to be moved around with less physical stress, reducing the number of staff complaints for back pain.

Integral to the design of healthcare facilities is to provide convenience for the nurses. In the past there was only one centrally located nursing station, causing nurses to walk from wherever their location back to the station to fill out their charts, respond to requests, gather materials and update information.

A floor plan that causes nurses to walk out of their way is unnecessary and inconvenient--leading to delays, taking a longer time to attend to the patients.

Nursing stations should be placed at convenient locations throughout the hospital. One example is the Hudson County Chest Clinic in Jersey City, New Jersey, where we distributed the stations in such a : way that nurses are able to oversee the individual areas where their stations are located. We also provided shortcuts from employee areas to clinical areas to shorten the walking distance.

Additionally, thanks to the latest technologies, it is increasingly easy to provide a data port for easy connectivity in all the nurses' stations, allowing consistent access to all patient records and information. All these measures are effective in cutting down on unnecessary travel.

The interior layout and the decor of a hospital are equally important for patients and visitors as for nurses, doctors and staff. Designers should give special attention to nurse work areas when space planning and choosing colors and materials. Most of a typical nurse's workday is spent in an enclosed and windowless space lit by fluorescent lights. When possible, windows should be built to allow greater use of natural light. If it is not possible, a combination of cheerful colors and introduction of incandescent light sources can help in interiors to improve working environment and brighten their moods.

By incorporating a few simple design solutions, you can greatly improve a nurse's workday.

A well-planned, well-designed environment can result in more content nurses and increased productivity and can ultimately improve the quality of healthcare that patients receive.

BY MICHELLE LEE, IIDA 

INTERIOR DESIGNER,

DMR ARCHITECTS