Hospital design, from the overall building architecture to the smallest details of a patient room, is a precise mixture of art and science. Many design choices are made for aesthetic reasons, but they are also backed by sound evidence-based practice, making each effectively-designed patient room a useful tool for solving common issues patients have.

Better room design can lead to more satisfied patients, a goal that every designer needs to help hospitals reach. Evidence and research has demonstrated that certain design choices can help:

Reduce Noise

One of the most common patient complaints is noise. Noise disruptions keep patient awake at night, prevent them from relaxing during the day and decrease their overall satisfaction with their stay. Studies have shown that high noise levels also adversely affect patient physiological conditions, including heart rate, blood pressure, respiration rate, skin conductance, and muscle tension.

There are two major design choices that can be implemented to resolve this issue: private rooms and ample soundproofing. According to studies, patients prefer private rooms because of the reduction of noise, but private rooms alone are not enough. Some hospitals have noise levels that are double what they should be, according to the World Health Organization. Installing better acoustic soundproofing can significantly cut down on noise from paging systems, wheelchairs, gurneys, carts and many other sources of noise.

Reduce Falls

Patient safety is a major concern for hospital administrators, and anything that can be done on the design level to help prevent patient falls will be a primary goal during the design process. Hundreds of thousands of patient falls occur each year in U.S. hospitals. Evidence-based practice has shown that these can be significantly cut by adding:

• Wider entrance/exit and bathroom doorways

• Sturdy handrails that lead from beds to the toilet

• Hospital whiteboards that clearly indicate a patient's risk of falling

• Bedside alarms that alert nurses when a patient gets up

Reduce Infections

Hospital acquired infections affect and alarming number of patients each year, causing nearly 75,000 deaths. Thanks to awareness and better technology, the numbers of cases has dropped over the years. While a lot of the preventative measures come from nurses and hospital staff, designers can help to reduce HAI through:

• Increasing the number of single occupancy rooms in hospitals

• Placing items that have non-porous, antimicrobial glass surfaces (such as glass patient boards)

Reduce Cabin Fever

Long patient stays can result in cabin fever, and the lack of sunlight, greenery and fresh air can take a toll on both patient health and satisfaction. This concept is one of the most widespread in evidence-based design practices. Designing rooms that have plenty of natural light, views of nature and that make patients feel less closed-off have therapeutic benefits that result in shorter patient stays and fewer negative evaluations. Nature-based hospital design has even been shown to reduce the amount of pain medications taken and postsurgical complications experienced. All of this arises from simply having a room with a view of trees or a garden.

For more resources on evidence-based design practices, keep up with the VividBoard blog!

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