ABSTRACT
As redesign and renovation of patient care units occur, health care providers are looking to the literature and finding evidence for the importance of lowering environmental stressors. In the PACU at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, patients historically expressed dissatisfaction with excessive noise levels and frequently cited overhearing staff conversations as most troubling. Nurses found the noise stressful and wearing. When the time approached to design the new PACU, we took the opportunity to explore a unique floor plan to minimize noise and improve privacy.
Subject(s)
Hospital Design and Construction/methods , Interior Design and Furnishings/methods , Noise/prevention & control , Recovery Room/organization & administration , Cancer Care Facilities , Cell Phone , Confidentiality , Efficiency, Organizational , Health Facility Environment/methods , Hospital Communication Systems/organization & administration , Hospitals, Private , Humans , Lighting/methods , New York City , Noise/adverse effects , Nursing Evaluation Research , Patient Satisfaction , Postanesthesia Nursing/organization & administration , Privacy , Safety Management/organization & administration , Total Quality Management/organization & administration , Visitors to Patients/psychologyABSTRACT
The Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) visitation program of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center needed revision. The process was disorganized, visits were unescorted, and nurses and physicians were resistant. A committee was formed with the goal of developing a new unit philosophy and improving the overall process. Committee steps included reviewing the literature, educating staff about the benefits of visitation, empowering nurses to incorporate family visitation into patient care, and providing family education. As a result, staff attitudes changed, and nurses now contact the family within 90 minutes of the patient's arrival to the PACU to develop an individualized visitation plan. Morale is high, and nurses take pride in meeting the needs of patients and families.
