[nurserangel_65]

I work in a fairly new unit. The desingers had stensils painted on the wall near the ceiling.
I have had more than one slightly confused patient halucinate with this as the primary stimulus.
It was a nice touch for those who are not confused, but in a surgical ICU most are confused. I would paint this.

[tinytot]

I agree to all what your have said.we also need rooms that are equiped with items to be used rather than the nurse going back and forth to get it

Originally Posted by nrsang97

I worked at one hospital that had no overhead or celing lights. The only lights in the rooms were the lights over the pt bed. I was always having trouble with IV's and foleys in women due to lack of light. I had made numerous complaints and nothing done. To put in a foley we had one person shine a flashlight while someone put in the foley.

Also having electrical outlets in easy reach and having lots of them. Always a problem.

Also if the TV's are on swing arms get rid of them and put them on the celing. I worked in a facility where the tv's were on swing arms and I cannot tell you how many times I banged my head on them. I hit my head a few times so hard that I saw stars. Made things difficult to manuver in the rooms.

Wider doorways to the bathrooms. Wider doorways to pt rooms to make it easier to manuver beds in and out when transferring a pt to another room or test.

I think that the architects that designed hospitals had no idea what it is like to work in a hospital. They also have no idea how much equipment a single pt can have.

[tinytot]

I agree to your point of view and really like the idea about the storage supplies that you can use from the ceiling

[Sweetooth EMT-P, RN]

I notice some hospital rooms do not have clocks... have to have a clock and maybe a calender.

Also it woudl be nice if the furniture could be stored in the wall.. you just pull it out when you need it.

Sweetooth

[shellek]

Originally Posted by Email4KH

If you could do anything to inpatient rooms (excluding making them bigger ), what would you change? Think in terms of patient comfort, nurse convenience, ergonomics, furnishings, storage, etc.
What are your pet peeves about inpatient rooms?

I am currently working in city, state that has many specialized hospitals. To me it is some what unfair because the get all the insured paying realitivly healthy pt's where the uninsure really unstable sick patient are shipped over to county hosptials. however, the specialized hospitals are set up as private, all most hotel like rooms. It is amazing to me coming from east and west coast county hospitals. The even have menues the patients call on their own and order their food when they are hungery. Hospital stays are more expensive then vacations but they have done a good job in making their illness like a vaction atmosphere..?? Dr's and their entruprenuation I guess, I just wonder in the long term how the county hospitals will survive?

[arpeggiated]

Our hospital is planning to break ground on a new campus this summer. I was bored and made a little list of things I want to see in it.

-LOTS of pillows. I hate turning patients and having to use blankets to prop them up because we have no pillows.
-02 flowmeters, suction canisters, and suction controls in every room. I hate having to peek in all the rooms to find someone who's not using the flowmeter that is in there.
-The new hospital is going to be all private rooms, but they need to be big enough for the bed, table, nightstand, chairs, recliners, bi-pap, iv pole, wound vac, guests, commode, cpm, and anything else that could be in there and still let me walk by without having to hop skip and jump over everything.
-Pocket doors leading into the bathroom so they take up no space in the room.
-Lights everywhere. Some of our rooms now do this well, there are two recessed bulbs in the middle of the ceiling that can be controlled from bright to dim. Works well for inserting foleys, ng tubes, etc. or as a nightlight.
-Call light speaker away from the o2 and suction. When there's humidified o2 and suction going... you can't hear anything over the call light system. Would save my knees from getting up, walking down the hall, asking if they need something, and the patient saying it was an accident.

[Charlotte M. Davis]

Here are a few ideas for the architects:

• Bathrooms with wide doors, a toilet and/or shower with a bench for safety.
• Sink with tilt mirror OUTSIDE the bathroom for patient [from wheelchair] and staff to use.
• Two-way access to clean and dirty linen - from room and hallway for removing dirty linen and stocking clean linen.
• Glove holders for four sizes of gloves at the door to the room with instant hand santizer dispensers.
• TVs elevated toward ceiling with individual bed controls.
• FREE radio channels for those who cannot afford TV.
• Private rooms for confidentiality!!
• If cannot have private rooms, then adequate space between beds for a draw door to section off the room.
• Configure rooms so that a sink, supplies, gloves, clean/dirty access, etc are between the cubicles with each patient having window.
• Pictures, dried flower arrangements, quilts, etc on the walls in thin shadow boxes of safety glass that can be cleaned.
• Permanently mounted clocks with days of week, date, and year.
• Phones in the rooms that are accessible from the bed instead of the bedside table [ceiling mounted on a track??].
• Emergency suction, oxygen, and supplies at head of bed in hideaway cabinets for easy access.
• Ottomans with a single hideway bed that will pullout for sitting or sleeping

[Emmanuel Goldstein]

Originally Posted by prmenrs

We have "COWs"--computers on wheels--out in the hallway. One visitor asked me if he could get online on one of them!!

At least your visitor asked...

[Emmanuel Goldstein]

Originally Posted by FLKatieRN

I think every room should have it's own thermometer attached to the wall so it couldn't grow legs and walk off. That way, I wouldnt be searching for one when I need it most. And a pulse ox.. Yes, that would nice.

We had those. Attached to the wall, and the type that if somehow they were removed, wouldn't work after so many minutes away from the base. They were still ripped off. Along with almost all of our clocks, dry erase boards, shower curtains... if it wasn't bolted down, it was stolen.

[Emmanuel Goldstein]

Originally Posted by cisco

I completely agree about having more outlets at waist level. I worked at one hospital that had computers in every room to chart on but, they were located at a level where you had to stand to do your charting. So, working a twelve hour shift there was NO chance to sit down and do charting, only standing. My legs were killing me by the end of the shift...NURSES should be included in the design of medical facilities!!!

The last hospital I worked in was awesome; they had built a new patient care area and nurses were included in designing the patient rooms. All privates. Sinks as you entered the room, as well as in the patient bathroom. Pull down shower chairs, level flooring, wide bathroom doors and LARGE bathrooms with plenty of room for equipment and to move around in. Plenty of outlets within easy reach. Fully equipped with dual suctions, O2, air, etc. Nurse-servers with access from the hall and in the room--- the servers included all supplies, linens and such--- and two locking cabinets. One for all the patient's meds (with exception of narcs or those needing refrigeration; pharmacy stocked these cabinets every day) and the other for syringes, needles and other stuff needing lockup. There was a built in couch that folded down into a bed. Windows that tilted out. Nice flooring--- with padding. The rooms themselves were huge. The only thing they forgot was to make the doorways into the rooms bigger lol. Every 3, 4, or 5 rooms would have an alcove in the hall with 2 computers and cabinets for charts. Two completely stocked med rooms, each with a pyxis on each end of the floor. A centrally located supply room. Large storage areas. Large closets with double doors where empty tray carts would be parked by dietary.

I'm sure I'm forgetting some things, but you get the idea. The downside to this design was that the floor was HUGE. But it was designed in such a way that you really did less walking than on most conventional floors. However, there was little contact with other staff--- you were in your own little alcove. We carried cell phones to contact each other if necessary.