Teams of staff members representing every department at Parkview Health in Fort Wayne, Indiana have helped to develop innovations in the design of new patient care units that will create a "healing, nurse-friendly environment".
Staff are giving input and choosing room configurations, bathroom locations, height of nursing station counters, types of beds and even electrical outlet placements for various kinds of equipment.
Medical-surgical units, for instance, will be configured as pods containing 12 private rooms, all equipped with windows to give nurses a clear line of sight for patient monitoring. The hospital also will feature wireless communications technology to facilitate nurse-patient contact, blood pressure cuffs on either side of the bed to accommodate both right- and left-handed clinicians, "smart bed" technology to alert nurses when a patient has gotten out of bed, and ceiling-mounted lifts to prevent injuries to staff and patients. In addition, the plans call for bedside computers in every room to reduce the risk of infection, which increases when computer carts must be wheeled from patient to patient. Dedicated patient education rooms, meanwhile, will allow providers and patients to have private conversations about home care, and a designated nurse quiet room will provide nurses with a place to rejuvenate during a stressful day.
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Whenever I hear about "nurse involvement" in design of work environment or in the application of new technology, I always wonder if there is union involvement or if the nurses are invited in as individuals in a discussion where they have little control over the issues discussed or over the actual decisions that are made at the end of the day. Nurse input is obviously critical, but it can't be empowered input without collective voice.
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