Lean Thinking in Emergency Departments: A Critical Review
2011
Annals of Emergency Medicine
Journal Article
Issue 3
Volume 57
Pages 265-278
Author(s): Holden, R. J.
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
Traffic Flow in the Operating Room: An Explorative and Descriptive Study on Air Quality During Orthopedic Trauma Implant Surgery
2012
Journal of Infection Control
Journal Article
Issue 8
Volume 40
Pages 750-755
Author(s): Andersson, A.E., Bergh, I., Karlsson, J., Eriksson, B.I. MD, Nilsson,K.
Three main strategies exist to prevent surgical site infections following surgery: 1) the patient, 2) the surgical technique, 3) the surgical environment. This study focuses on optimizing the effect of the surgical environment in preventing SSIs (surgical site infections). The authors attempt to understand that the protective potential of operating room (OR) ventilation under different conditions is crucial to optimizing the surgical environment.
Added April 2014
Suicide in Older Adults in Long-Term Care: 1990 to 2005
2008
Journal of American Geriatric Society
Journal Article
Issue 11
Volume 56
Pages 2107-11
Author(s): Briana Mezuk, Marta R. Prescott, Kenneth Tardiff, David Vlahov, Sandro Galea
Few studies have examined the intersection between suicide risk and residency in long term care settings. This study attempts to describe the characteristics associated with suicide in older persons residing in long-term care (LTC) facilities, to compare the characteristics of suicide cases in LTC with those of cases in the community, and to evaluate trends in suicide in these settings over the past 15 years.
Added April 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
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
Environmental evaluation for workplace violence in healthcare and social services
2008
Journal of Safety Research
Journal Article
Issue 2
Volume 39
Pages 237-50
Author(s): McPhaul, K.M. , Murrett, K., Flannery, K. , Rosen, J., Lipscomb, J., London, M.
The purpose of this project was to contribute specific, evidence–based guidance to the healthcare and social services employer communities regarding the use of environmental design to prevent violence.
Added April 2014
Suicide and self-harm in inpatient psychiatric units: a study of nursing issues in 31 cases
2000
Journal of Advanced Nursing
Journal Article
Issue 1
Volume 32
Pages 124-31
Author(s): Gournay, K., Bowers, L.
A significant number of incidents of suicide and self-harm occur in in-patient facilities. This study comprises of the review and audit of 31 suicide cases, each case being the subject of legal action brought by patients and/or their families.
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
Review of the Literature: Acuity-Adaptable Patient Room
2013
Critical Care Nursing Quarterly
Journal Article
Issue 2
Volume 36
Pages 251–271
Author(s): Bonuel, N. , Cesario, S.
Acuity-adaptable rooms allow patients to stay in one room from the time they are admitted to when they leave, regardless of their acuity level. These specially equipped private rooms are staffed by nurses who have the skills and training to support the complete range of care for patients with similar conditions or disease processes. The rooms are larger in size than a regular hospital room to accommodate various patients’ needs as their condition changes, such as critical care equipment, additional staff, procedures, and family members.
Added March 2014
Unpleasant and pleasant memories of intensive care in adult mechanically ventilated patients—Findings from 250 interviews
2011
Intensive and Critical Care Nursing
Journal Article
Issue 2
Volume 27
Pages 76-84
Author(s): Samuelson, K. A. M.
Patients’ perspectives on the intensive care experience are essential to improve patients’ comfort and well-being during and after a stay in the intensive care unit (ICU). This research approach was unique as the author used data from a large number of patient interviews (n = 250) and a validated qualitative content analysis technique to create themes from the data. One of the themes included—environmental distress—described aspects of the physical environment that patients remembered as causing distress.
Added January 2014
A Novel PACU Design for Noise Reduction
2008
Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing
Journal Article
Issue 4
Volume 23
Pages 226-229
Author(s): Smykowski, L.
As redesign and renovation of patient care units occur, health care providers need to consider the importance of lowering environmental stressors. Noise in the hospital environment is one well documented problem, with detrimental effects to both patients and staff. The paper reviews the redesign of the organization's PACU that explored a unique floor plan to minimize noise and improve privacy.
Added October 2012
Paediatric emergency department design: Does it affect staff, patient and community satisfaction?
2003
Emergency Medicine Australasia
Journal Article
Issue 1
Volume 15
Pages 63-67
Author(s): Judkins, S.
The study site was an Australian metropolitan teaching hospital with 34,000 ED visits per year. (Fifteen percent of these were pediatric visits.) A dedicated pediatric waiting area and treatment area were constructed at the study site, physically separate from the adult ED, with décor more appropriate for children, entertainment facilities, and a dedicated nurse in the area.
Added October 2012
Impact of Emergency Department Built Environment on Timeliness of Physician Assessment of Patients With Chest Pain
2008
Environment & Behavior
Journal Article
Issue 2
Volume 40
Pages 233-248
Author(s): Hall, K. K., Kyriacou, D. N., Handler, J. A., Adams, J. G.
With millions of chest-pain related visits to the emergency department (ED) each year, this demographic one of the most frequently studied in the emergency medicine (ED) literature. As the timeliness of care can lead to significant decreases in both morbidity and mortality, the authors suggest that elements of the architectural design of an ED, specifically the location of the treatment rooms (distance from physician work areas), should be considered when evaluating factors related to quality of care.
Added October 2012
Effect of a rapid assessment clinic on the waiting time to be seen by a doctor and the time spent in the department, for patients presenting to an urban emergency department: a controlled prospective trial
2002
The New Zealand Medical Journal
Journal Article
Issue 1157
Volume 115
Pages 1-7
Author(s): Ardagh, M. W. , Wells, J.E. , Cooper, K., Lyons, R., Patterson, R., O'Donovan, P.
Overcrowding in emergency departments is common in most healthcare organizations. Barriers to efficient patient flow in emergency departments (EDs) create bottlenecks through the system. Upon entry to an ED, the triage process determines how quickly someone might be seen, but this process does not take into account how quickly a patient's condition might be managed, but rather the urgency for care. By addressing an additional component of triage, it was hypothesized that ED throughout could be better managed, reducing wait times for all patients, and better utilizing limited ED resources.
Added October 2012
Healthcare Environmental Terms and Outcome Measures: An Evidence-based Design Glossary
Author(s): Quan, X., Malone, E., Joseph, A., Pati, D.
Added October 2012
Designing for Patient Safety: Developing Methods to Integrate Patient Safety Concerns in the Design Process
Author(s): Joseph, A., Taylor, E. M. , Quan, X., Jelen, M.
Added October 2012
Critical Issues in Healthcare Environments
Author(s): Cohen, Uriel , Allison, David
Added October 2012
Consumer Perceptions of the Healthcare Environment: An Investigation to Determine What Matters
Author(s): The Picker Institute
Added October 2012
