New Construction Nightmare

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Our hospital is opening a new wing and my unit just got the tour today. Our PCU, ICU and ER are going into the new wing and the ramp from MedSurg to the new wing was ACCIDENTLY built with an incline; so we are being made to take an elevator downstairs to the basement, go down the basement ramp which as well has a little incline to it, then take another elevator back up. Many were asking why wasn't a laser used or something.

In the new wing they placed the buttons to push for a code and to call help right above the beds, so if we have a patient out of control we are going to have to get by them to call for help!

They also did not plan out were the crash carts would go. So now they cannot not find a wall with a red outlets that is out of the way to store the cart. Its going to have to be pretty much in the way right in the hallway. Nurses were just shaking their heads in horror. I am terrified to think of rushing a patient from MedSurg to ICU or PCU.

I'm not sure what to do, guess I just wanted to vent.

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Specializes in Public Health, L&D, NICU.

At my very first job, we got a brand new hospital, and we had similar experiences. Why don't they ask a group of nurses? We are the ones that have to work in the environment.

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It is the same story all the time. They come up with this big plan of construction. Do they ask those who will actually be working there.. Nope. Is there problems then that could have been avoided.. Yep. Will they learn.. Nope.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

HA HA HA - sorry, but I had a flashback to working in a similar place... but the "incline" turned out to be anything but 'slight'. I can recall many instances of hanging on for dear life to a runaway wheelchair or occupied bed in order to transport a patient to one of the areas at the bottom of the incline. I guess planners just didn't realize how difficult it is to maintain control of a significantly obese patient loaded on a wheeled apparatus.... LOL.

Of course, getting them back up the ramp "took a village". I don't know whatever happened in that particular situation - ended up changing jobs before the promised "fix" was completed.

Never underestimate the stupidity of hospital planners - right?

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Specializes in ICU, telemetry, LTAC.

See, it's crap like that. That's why I don't need to go to the gym. It is REALLY taxing to push beds around, then you put people on them, then it's obese folks and an incline?! Yeah. That would about do me in.

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Reminds me of one hospital's renovation of a med-surg wing that obviously didn't involve a single nurse OR cna. How about the toilets didn't have one of those drop-down arms that worked like a faucet to clean a bedpan? So that the only way to clean one was in the SINK or take a nastypoopything to the dirty utility room for the deep sink?

How about realizing that the bathrooms didn't have a two-way swing on the door, so that if someone were to fall while in there--and have the discourtesy to be splayed on the floor--no one could get in?

How about the fact that the doorways were not wide enough to accommodate a normal-sized bed--whoever took the measurements used one of the really old ones that were being outmoded (because they were too narrow and let's face it, American's aren't). So ONLY those narrow crappy old beds could go in the brand new rooms!

How about double rooms that did NOT allow for two beds? Nope. Once the beds, IV pole/pumps and bedside tables were in place, it was realized there was NO room for either bed to have a nightstand and you couldn't squeeze a vs machine in there either, let alone extra equipment like maybe a woundvac or an extra pole for TPN, whatever. Bunk beds would have been more efficient, lol. And so there we were with what was supposed to be a 50-bed unit suddenly becoming a 25-bed unit, because all the doubles were now oversized singles. Great planning there! Good thing they paid top dollar for interior designers to make sure that the wallpaper and wood trim looked perfect. Sheesh.

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Specializes in retired LTC.

Regardless of how old (or new) the unit/facility is, I am most annoyed that there are NEVER enough electric sockets planned between the beds for alll the equip we use these days. I'm talking IV pump, GT pump, O2 concentrator, pressure relief mattress, wound vac, CPM, suction machine, nebulizer , etc etc etc. And then of course, every unit has the obligatory cheapo ginger-jar lamp on the bedside table. Residents then want to plug in cell-phones, laptops, radios, fans, etc.

And that was only for A bed; now B bed ...

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Specializes in Surgical/MedSurg/Oncology/Hospice.

I worked on what was then a unit in a beautiful new wing: 36 spacious private rooms with build in couches/bed for relatives, outlets galore for any and all equipment, new beds with built in bed alarms that had 3 levels of sensitivity, flat screen TV's wall mounted across from the beds, nice big counters with sink next to the door of the room for supplies/writing space...the main thing they got wrong was the thresh hold to the private en suite bathrooms: instead of a smooth floor transitioning from room to bathroom, there was a one inch trip hazard of a thresh hold, patients had to be assisted with "popping a wheelie" with the IV pole to get into the bathroom.

Nurses obviously were not a part of the planning process :p

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