Posts tagged ‘infection control’
Healthcare Design Book: To Include or Not to Include
I was enraged, I would say is not too strong a word, at seeing several very “bland” hospitals that had opened recently having spent all that money to create a stark environment, with all white walls and very little to provide a few moments of delight for anxious patients. In one of these hospitals touted as a “total healing environment,” the maternity unit did not look any different than the standard med/surg unit and there was nothing even in the baby nursery to cue this is where babies are born, to celebrate that event. So I was outraged and I started writing this as a manifesto to say, “This can’t go on; people have got to be aware of this and not let this keep happening.” This is a regression to pre-Planetree hospital aesthetics from the early 1980s.
As to what to include, I firmly believe that we need to pay more attention to areas where patients spend their time and where they are “captive.” As an outpatient, you can decide, for instance, if it’s a depressing experience, to go someplace else for care. But once you are admitted to a hospital for surgery or whatever your condition is, you are there and, in a sense, you’re a prisoner. You can’t just pick up and leave. This is where people are really vulnerable.
Writing a Hospital Design Book – The Journey of Discovery
Writing “A Visual Reference to Evidence-Based Design” was a journey of discovery and learning for me. Typically when one writes a new book, one outlines the book in great detail and you know exactly where you want to go. You have a road map and that’s what you’re going to research and what you’re going to talk about. Well, I thought I knew what this book was going to be about in the beginning and, in fact, I thought it was going to be perhaps spiral bound as a notebook with lots of annotated photos depicting how research was applied to support the design of those facilities, whether individual rooms or entire nursing care units.
The book at that time and, in actuality, focuses on acute care, not outpatient, and specifically areas of direct patient care—places where patients spend their time—not lobbies or public spaces. And the reason I did this is because I had seen several recently completed hospitals that had great lobbies and then the design features abruptly ended. Except for the computers I saw, they were very bland, colorless spaces and it took me back to the 1970s, before Planetree. I was shocked that I could be seeing this today. I found this so distressing that I decided to write a manifesto about it. So the book started as a polemic around that issue and I sought out examples of projects that carried design features into patient care areas.
Motivation for Writing Jain Malkin’s Latest Hospital Design Book?
I was motivated to write my latest hospital design book, “A Visual Reference to Evidence-Based Design” after seeing three hospitals in a row that had been completed in the last couple of years and touted as the “ultimate in healing environments” and when I hear that, of course, my expectations are very high.
In all three cases when I personally toured the facilities, I was surprised to see that the design features and nice design amenities stopped in the lobby and, once I passed through the lobby, it was as if I were in a 1970s or 1980s hospital in that I saw a lot of white walls and a very institutional appearance. Except for the computers and monitors that were omnipresent, it was like stepping backwards in time.
Design for Hospitals: How Can Design Help with Infection Control? (Part 2)
Continued from Design for Hospitals: How Can Design Help with Infection Control? (Part 1):
Greg and Stacey Renker Pavilion, Rancho Mirage, CA
Manufacturers of healthcare furniture have become so good, in the last few years, at creating furniture that has great functional capabilities yet looks terrific. It looks almost residential or like hospitality furniture. But now, when you understand what the CDC guidelines require, the germicidal agents that hospitals are required to use will strip the paint off a car. Just imagine using these after every patient, or even daily when the same patient is in the room…every day, cleaning the wood arms of a chair or upholstery fabrics with these highly caustic chemicals. They are not going to last very long. So what is the solution? (more…)
Design for Hospitals: How Can Design Help with Infection Control? (Part 1)
Eisenhower Medical Center, Rancho Mirage, CA
It’s hard to answer this in less than 17 paragraphs, but there are many issues. For example, if you are planning a patient room, while we don’t have strong evidence at this moment, it appears that placing the handwash sink close to the entry of the room, as opposed to behind the door (so you don’t have to walk around the door to wash your hands), makes it more likely the care team will use the sink to wash their hands. There are many other issues as well. (more…)
Jain Malkin
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