Who thinks this stuff up, anyway??

puggymae · Nov 26, 2006

I would tell you, but then they will come and kill you....

nightingale, RN · Nov 26, 2006

AngiE It is not worth it. Go in peace knowing YOU do the right thing everyday

UM Review RN, ASN, RN · Nov 26, 2006

Actually, I'm just genuinely curious, no bone to pick.

Who are "they"? Consultants hired from outside, ex-JCHAO stiffs? Administrators?

Indy, LPN, LVN · Nov 26, 2006

Probably the same people who try to pry a smile out of the UK nurses with a chocolate biscuit.

nursey_girl · Nov 26, 2006

I will tell you this... Our shiney soon to be new hospital had a nice planning committee to help design and plan our units. (It was all for a cutesy show.) None of our ideas, including physician imput helped in the planning. We are getting what somebody else wanted all along and to be honest, it's not going to work for our very rapid growing unit. My prediction... we will outgrow it before we get there and we will be expanding and remodling soon after.

talaxandra · Nov 26, 2006

In my experience it's a combination of architects and senior-management-level staff. While I appreciate that it's impractical to consult all clinical staff, having some consultation would help avoid:

- three-bed rooms designed so that the first two beds have to be pushed against a wall to allow the third bed in or out (a purpose-built department as my hospital)

- an infectious diseases unit with two hallway sinks to service thirty-four patients (my hospital)

- the power outlet for the crash cart located at floor level, behind a cupboard (requiring you to crouch down and twist to get at the plug (my ward, now fixed)

- an ICU with special, state-of-the-art beds that were asembled in the unit, only to discover, as they tried to wheel the first patient out, that the doorways were narrower than the beds (a friend's hospital)

While we're at it, who's consulted about ward moves and consolidations? Our neurosurg unit has been moved from a ward with eight single rooms to one with two

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Nov 26, 2006

I know for sure at one hospital it's facility planning administrators with a few achitects that play a big role in design.

Reason i know this is that's what Matt does. One of the first things i told him when he got this job is to go to the unit that is getting rebuilt/remodeled, present the plans to the staff, and ask them what THEY need and want.

leslie :-D · Nov 26, 2006

the med'l director decided that our in-pt hospice facility needed a facelift....and SHE felt qualified to be the interior designer. :eek:

she wanted new floors, new paint, new curtains- all in mauve/gray.

oh, and some structural renovations; big mistake taking down a supporting wall. :stone

one day the crew (who she hired) was putting down the floors and i KNOW i smelled marijuana.

i approached the supervisor of the crew w/my concerns.

initially he denied it.

but since he knew that i knew, he admitted that a couple of the guys had been smoking in the van.

very sternly i asked, "did you guys pick out this floor while you were high?" :rotfl:

he looked befuddled and quickly retorted "no! your boss picked everything out."

i called the med'l dir and told her the place smelled of pot, i had opened windows, sprayed the common area and what else should i do?

she just wanted them to finish the darned job and get out of there.

after all was done and said, we had too-short, dark mauve, foam-back drapes, mauve walls and a funky pattern gray and mauve floor.

the place looked like a friggin funeral parlor.

just what our actively-dying patients needed.

i honestly think a couple of them died sooner than expected, just to get out of there!

the next med'l director who came, not only was experienced in hospice & palliative care, but hired professionals to do the whole place over.

it was lovely.

and the carrying wall that had been knocked down, was replaced so our 2nd floor wouldn't come crashing down....

leslie

RN007 · Nov 26, 2006

Probably the same people who try to pry a smile out of the UK nurses with a chocolate biscuit.

:rotfl: :yeahthat: :cheers: :rotfl:

banditrn · Nov 26, 2006

- an ICU with special, state-of-the-art beds that were asembled in the unit, only to discover, as they tried to wheel the first patient out, that the doorways were narrower than the beds (a friend's hospital)

OMG!! I love it!!:rotfl: :rotfl: I can just picture it, too!

nursebearfeet · Nov 27, 2006

i think "they" design things so that it will frustrate us. our ed is in the process of being remodeled. it is very pretty and new and wonderful with rounded edges and pretty colors and absolutely no barrier between the waiting room and the patient rooms. hello, what the hell were they thinking, i'm just waiting for someone to come swinging the door open in the middle of a pelvic exam, for the whole wr to observe. we were told that "they" thought it would make the patients and their families happier to have less of a barrier. duh!!!! :bugeyes: