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Publication: Society of Critical Care Medicine, Critical Connections Newsletter
Date: December/January 2014, Volume 12, Number 6
Authors: Sandy Swoboda, RN, MS, FCCM; Diana C. Anderson, MD, March; D. Kirk Hamilton, FAIA, FACHA, EDAC; Charles D. Cadenhead, FAIA, FACHA, FCCM; Neil A. Halpern, MD, FCCM; Dan R. Thompson, MD, MA, FCCM
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Demand for intensive care unit (ICU) beds is increasing as the nature of medical practice shifts to become more multi-professional and multidisciplinary. These trends likely will be reflected in both our critical care space design and working practices. Clinicians are spending more time at computers to complete documentation and more time discussing cases with the multi-professional team. Parallel to this shift toward healthcare provider teams is a growing awareness about the impact of evidence-based design principles on patient care and staff efficiency. The environment’s impact on the healing process, infection control practices and safety increasingly are studied in the context of a unit’s design and architectural layout. Hybrid professionals and interdisciplinary groups provide integrated solutions that cross disciplines in new ways.
In addition to assembling a task force to update the Guidelines for Critical Care Unit Design, members of the Society of Critical Care Medicine’s (SCCM) ICU Design Committee are champions for change and healthcare improvement. In this article, this diverse group shares their thoughts on the ICU of the future.
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Note Dr. Anderson’s viewpoints on this topic, entitled “View from the Dochitect: Reflections of a Physician-Architect on ICU Design,” are presented as part of a panel discussion on the future of ICU design at the Society of Critical Care Medicine’s 43rd Annual Congress in San Francisco, CA; January 13, 2014.
It has been documented that 80% of scientific breakthroughs occur outside the laboratory environment in social settings. Take an inside look at the research and clinical environments through the eyes of a scientist and a physician working on the same academic healthcare campus and understand the interface between the two, a true bench to bedside approach. Discuss the unique features of collaboration in the research setting and subsequent application to clinical treatment. The types of interactions that occur in the research and clinical environments will be shared , and subsequently translated into a discussion of the built environment’s impact on collaboration.
Imagine the lessons learned if the architect could know what the doctor knows. This unique discussion provides an inside look at the hospital environment through the eyes of a “Dochitect”—a hybrid professional in medicine and architecture. Hear the story of health design from an architect pursuing internal medicine residency training and uncover new perspectives as you go with her on core rotations. Case studies highlighting the importance of space design will be shared with design anecdotes and functional analysis of hospital departments emphasizing the practical importance of design qualities that impact the work environment for staff and healing environment for patients and families.
Rounding is critical to developing integrated care plans, and there is a trend for moving daily rounds from the bedside to conference rooms. This study’s aim was to document staff preferences for the location of rounding practices, and to determine the effect of available space on those preferences.
The primary purpose of this qualitative study was to identify what palliative care patients and their families perceive to be important elements in the design of a palliative care unit (PCU) for end-of-life care. Secondary objectives included exploring whether differences in preferences and perceptions exist between patients and family members. This study looked at the palliative care population of Bridgepoint Hospital in Toronto, Canada, and evaluated patient and family preferences for room design and layout, as well as preference for private versus shared accommodations.