ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Nowadays several rating systems exist for the evaluation of the sustainability of buildings, but often their focus is limited to environmental and efficiency aspects. Hospitals are complex constructions in which many variables affect hospital processes. Therefore, a research group has developed a tool for the evaluation of sustainability in healthcare facilities. METHODOLOGY: The paper analyses social sustainability issues through a tool which evaluates users' perception from a the quality and well-being perspective. It presents a hierarchical structure composed of a criteria and indicators system which is organised through a weighing system calculated by using the Analytic Network Process. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The output is the definition of a tool which evaluates how Humanisation, Comfort and Distribution criteria can affect the social sustainability of a building. CONCLUSION: Starting from its application, it is evident that the instrument enables the improvement of healthcare facilities through several design and organisational suggestions for achieving healing and sustainable architectures.
Subject(s)
Facility Design and Construction , Health Facility Environment , Social Environment , Environment Design , Facility Design and Construction/economics , Facility Design and Construction/methods , Health Facility Environment/economics , Hospital Design and Construction , Humans , Patient ComfortABSTRACT
An academic hospital used Transforming Care at the Bedside (TCAB) principles as the framework for generating evidence-based recommendations for the design of an expansion of the current hospital. The interdisciplinary team used the table of evidence-based data to advocate for a patient- and family-centered, safe, and positive work environment. A nurse project manager acted as liaison between the TCAB design team, architects, and facilities and design consultants. Part 2 of this series describes project evaluation outcomes.
Subject(s)
Evidence-Based Medicine , Health Facility Environment/standards , Hospital Design and Construction/standards , Nursing Staff, Hospital/organization & administration , Occupational Health/standards , Patient Safety/standards , Quality Assurance, Health Care/standards , Academic Medical Centers , Health Facility Environment/economics , Hospital Design and Construction/economics , Humans , Interdisciplinary Communication , Interinstitutional Relations , Interprofessional Relations , Leadership , Nursing Staff, Hospital/standards , Patient Handoff/organization & administration , Patient Handoff/standardsSubject(s)
Health Facility Environment/standards , Hospital Design and Construction/standards , Medical Errors/prevention & control , Patient Harm/prevention & control , Patient Safety/standards , Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S./economics , Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S./standards , Health Facility Environment/economics , Hospital Design and Construction/economics , Humans , Medical Errors/economics , Patient Harm/economics , Patient Safety/economics , Reimbursement Mechanisms/standards , United StatesSubject(s)
Health Facility Environment/standards , Hospital Design and Construction/standards , Interior Design and Furnishings/standards , Health Facility Environment/economics , Health Facility Environment/organization & administration , Hospital Design and Construction/economics , Hospital Design and Construction/methods , Humans , Interior Design and Furnishings/economicsABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Several policy and cultural factors still hinder the development of ambulatory surgery (AS) in France. Our surgery unit developed a day-surgery approach with extension of a non-medicalized post-operative stay in a hotel-like structure within the hospital, called an "ambulotel". The present study aims to evaluate the potential of this approach in increasing the possibilities of ambulatory surgery by comparing our stays to those of a nationwide database. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We matched 66 patients according to seven criteria in our one-day ambulotel program to the 2011 DRG national database and then compared their characteristics. RESULTS: Of the 10,428 patients in the database with one-night stays in a traditional surgery unit, more than half (52%) would probably have been eligible for ambulatory surgery with a potential theoretical savings estimated at 12,806,568. CONCLUSION: This estimated amount of savings represents a major medical and economic issue. The savings could contribute to increased ambulatory surgery activity in France by creating new dedicated Ambulatory Units, pooling conventional beds, or using night accommodation in non-hospital nursing homes, for example.
Subject(s)
Ambulatory Surgical Procedures/statistics & numerical data , Ambulatory Surgical Procedures/trends , Health Facility Environment/trends , Ambulatory Surgical Procedures/economics , Cost-Benefit Analysis , Databases, Factual , Diagnosis-Related Groups , Female , Forecasting , France , Health Care Costs , Health Care Surveys , Health Facility Environment/economics , Health Facility Environment/statistics & numerical data , Humans , Incidence , Male , Operating Rooms/statistics & numerical data , Patient Care/economics , Patient Care/methods , Risk Assessment , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
Adapting the 'Lean' methodologies used for many years by many manufacturers on the production line - such as in the automotive industry - and deploying them in healthcare 'spaces' can, Roger Call, an architect at Herman Miller Healthcare in the US, argues, 'easily remedy many of the inefficiencies' found within a healthcare facility. In an article that first appeared in the September 2013 issue of The Australian Hospital Engineer, he explains how 'Lean' approaches such as the 'Toyota production system', and 'Six Sigma', can be harnessed to good effect in the healthcare sphere.
Subject(s)
Facility Design and Construction/standards , Health Facility Administration/standards , Health Facility Environment/organization & administration , Total Quality Management/organization & administration , Community Networks/economics , Community Networks/organization & administration , Community Networks/standards , Efficiency, Organizational , Facility Design and Construction/economics , Facility Design and Construction/methods , Health Facility Administration/economics , Health Facility Administration/methods , Health Facility Environment/economics , Health Facility Environment/standards , Humans , Organizational Case Studies , Quality Improvement/economics , Quality Improvement/organization & administration , Quality Improvement/standards , Total Quality Management/economics , Total Quality Management/methods , United StatesABSTRACT
managing director of Mycologia & Mould Worx, MSc, B.(Env. Sci.), TAE40110, examines the topic of mould exposure in healthcare facilities, and the associated duty of care for hospital facility managers and engineers. The article, published here in slightly adapted form, also focuses on the need for additional training of key personnel on the risks associated with exposure to environmental microbial contamination.
Subject(s)
Environmental Exposure/prevention & control , Fungi/pathogenicity , Health Facility Environment/standards , Infection Control/standards , Sick Building Syndrome/prevention & control , Air Pollution, Indoor/adverse effects , Air Pollution, Indoor/economics , Air Pollution, Indoor/prevention & control , Australia , Environmental Exposure/adverse effects , Environmental Exposure/economics , Health Facility Environment/economics , Housekeeping, Hospital/methods , Housekeeping, Hospital/standards , Humans , Infection Control/economics , Infection Control/methods , Maintenance and Engineering, Hospital/economics , Maintenance and Engineering, Hospital/methods , Occupational Diseases/economics , Occupational Diseases/etiology , Occupational Diseases/prevention & control , Patient Safety/economics , Patient Safety/standards , Personnel, Hospital/education , Sick Building Syndrome/complications , Sick Building Syndrome/economics , WorkforceABSTRACT
With the NHS having committed to reduce its carbon footprint by 10% by 2015, Alan Newman, a partner at building services engineers, Troup Bywaters + Anders (TB+A), describes how, with the company's expertise and help, customer, the East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, 'surpassed the targets two years in advance'. As he explains, the key element of an ambitious carbon reduction scheme that won the 2013 IHEEM Healthcare Estates Sustainability Award (HEJ - November 2013) was a new combined heat and power-based energy centre at the Trust's Lister Hospital in Stevenage.
Subject(s)
Conservation of Energy Resources/methods , Health Facility Environment/organization & administration , Maintenance and Engineering, Hospital/organization & administration , State Medicine/organization & administration , Conservation of Energy Resources/economics , Electric Power Supplies/economics , Electric Power Supplies/standards , Health Facility Environment/economics , Health Facility Environment/standards , Hospital Design and Construction/economics , Hospital Design and Construction/methods , Hospital Design and Construction/standards , Humans , Maintenance and Engineering, Hospital/economics , Maintenance and Engineering, Hospital/methods , Organizational Case Studies , State Medicine/economics , United KingdomABSTRACT
Although estimates suggest that, on average, some 30 per cent of all patients in general acute medical wards may have some form of dementia, Stirling University's Dementia Services Development Centre (DSDC), one of the leading international knowledge centres working to improve the lives of dementia sufferers, says progress in designing healthcare facilities that address such patients' needs has been 'patchy at best'. With the number of individuals living with dementia expected to double in the next 25 years, the DSDC has recently worked with Edinburgh-based architects, Burnett Pollock Associates, to develop an online resource that clearly illustrates, via 15 simulated 'dementia-friendly' healthcare 'spaces', some of the key principles to consider when designing effectively for this fast-growing group. HEJ editor, Jonathan Baillie, attended the launch of the so-called 'Virtual Hospital'.
Subject(s)
Dementia/psychology , Health Facility Administrators/education , Health Facility Environment/standards , Hospital Design and Construction/standards , Computer Simulation , Computer-Assisted Instruction , Dementia/rehabilitation , Health Facility Environment/economics , Health Facility Environment/methods , Health Personnel/education , Hospital Design and Construction/economics , Hospital Design and Construction/methods , Humans , Information Dissemination/methods , Interior Design and Furnishings/economics , Interior Design and Furnishings/methods , Interior Design and Furnishings/standards , Internet , State Medicine/economics , State Medicine/standards , United KingdomSubject(s)
Floors and Floorcoverings/standards , Health Facility Environment/standards , Interior Design and Furnishings/standards , Cost Control/methods , Floors and Floorcoverings/economics , Health Facility Environment/economics , Housekeeping, Hospital/economics , Housekeeping, Hospital/standards , Humans , Interior Design and Furnishings/economics , Maintenance and Engineering, Hospital/economics , Maintenance and Engineering, Hospital/standardsSubject(s)
Conservation of Natural Resources/methods , Health Facility Environment/standards , Hospital Design and Construction/standards , Renewable Energy/standards , Waste Management/standards , Conservation of Natural Resources/economics , Conservation of Natural Resources/trends , Health Facility Environment/economics , Health Facility Environment/trends , Hospital Design and Construction/economics , Hospital Design and Construction/trends , Humans , Renewable Energy/economics , Renewable Energy/statistics & numerical data , Waste Management/economics , Waste Management/methodsSubject(s)
Health Facility Environment/economics , Hospital Information Systems/economics , Materials Management, Hospital/economics , Cost-Benefit Analysis , Efficiency, Organizational , Financial Management, Hospital/methods , Financial Management, Hospital/standards , Financial Management, Hospital/trends , Health Facility Environment/standards , Health Facility Environment/trends , Hospital Information Systems/standards , Hospital Information Systems/trends , Humans , Materials Management, Hospital/methods , Materials Management, Hospital/trends , Radio Frequency Identification Device/economics , Radio Frequency Identification Device/standards , Radio Frequency Identification Device/trendsSubject(s)
Health Facility Environment/standards , Interior Design and Furnishings/standards , Cost-Benefit Analysis , Disinfection/economics , Disinfection/methods , Disinfection/standards , Ergonomics/economics , Ergonomics/standards , Health Facility Environment/economics , Health Facility Environment/trends , Humans , Interior Design and Furnishings/economicsSubject(s)
Art , Environment Design , Health Facility Environment , Hospitals, Pediatric , Environment Design/economics , Financial Support , Gift Giving , Health Facility Environment/economics , Health Facility Environment/organization & administration , Hospital-Patient Relations , Hospitals, Pediatric/economics , Hospitals, Pediatric/organization & administration , Humans , New South WalesABSTRACT
Negative pressure therapy (NPT) is widely used in developed countries where it a technique of choice in the management of wound healing on extremities. Because of the cost, the specific ressources necessary forNPT are scarce in austere environments. This report describes a simple, economical alternative technique using a "breathing bandage" that can be made from from widely used surgical products.
Subject(s)
Extremities , Health Facility Environment/economics , Negative-Pressure Wound Therapy/economics , Negative-Pressure Wound Therapy/methods , Poverty , Contraindications , Cost-Benefit Analysis , Extremities/pathology , Humans , Negative-Pressure Wound Therapy/statistics & numerical data , Wound Healing , Wounds and Injuries/therapySubject(s)
Health Facility Environment , Oncology Service, Hospital , Health Facility Environment/economics , Health Facility Environment/standards , Hospital Design and Construction/economics , Hospital Design and Construction/standards , Humans , Interior Design and Furnishings/economics , Interior Design and Furnishings/standards , Oncology Service, Hospital/economics , Oncology Service, Hospital/standards , Paintings , Sculpture , SwedenABSTRACT
In response to the significant number and severity of work-related back injuries and other musculoskeletal disorders among nurses, the American Nurses Association (ANA) has launched the Handle With Care campaign. The campaign seeks to build a health care industry-wide effort to prevent back and other musculoskeletal injuries. This is being done through developing partnerships and coalitions, education and training, increasing use of assistive equipment and patient-handling devices, reshaping nursing education to incorporate safe patient handling, and pursuing federal and state ergonomics policy by highlighting technology-oriented safe-patient handling benefits for patients and nurses. In the absence of ergonomics regulations at national or state levels that protect health care workers, ANA has taken on alternative approaches to encourage a movement to control ergonomic hazards in the health care workplace and prevent back injuries among the nation's nursing workforce.
Subject(s)
American Nurses' Association , Health Promotion/organization & administration , Musculoskeletal Diseases/prevention & control , Occupational Diseases/prevention & control , Back Injuries/economics , Back Injuries/etiology , Back Injuries/prevention & control , Cost-Benefit Analysis , Education, Nursing, Continuing/economics , Education, Nursing, Continuing/methods , Ergonomics/methods , Health Facility Environment/economics , Health Facility Environment/methods , Health Policy , Humans , Lifting/adverse effects , Musculoskeletal Diseases/economics , Musculoskeletal Diseases/etiology , Nursing/instrumentation , Nursing/methods , Occupational Diseases/economics , Occupational Health , Risk Assessment , United StatesABSTRACT
Although multiple models of care exist to prevent the development of delirium in hospitalized patients, models for the management of patients for whom delirium is unpreventable or who already have delirium on admission to the hospital are needed. This article describes the development, management, and economics of a new model of care for patients with delirium, called the Delirium Room (DR). The DR is a specialized 4-bed unit that provides 24-hour intensive nursing care and is completely free of physical restraints. Another important feature of the 4-bed DR is that it is an integral part of a 22-bed acute care for the elderly (ACE) unit. As such, patients in the DR benefit from features of the ACE unit: a change in the physical environment of the medical floor to promote mobility and function and discourage bedrest, comprehensive geriatric care that identifies and addresses problems that can lead to a decline in function, and use of a daily multidisciplinary team meeting. This article also presents descriptive data on a group of delirious patients managed in the DR with the intention of giving baseline data for other ACE units that are considering opening a DR or for future prospective studies in this area.