Facility & infrastructure
sense of wellbeing. Having a room to oneself has undisputed advantages in this regard. Hospital planners are taking new approaches in other ways as well, as it’s not only the patients’ well-being that is of crucial importance – visitors’ needs are also increasingly being taken into account. “They also feel better in hospital rooms that are bright and cheerful,” says Dr. Konrad.
The new hospital in Neunkirchen has waiting rooms with lockers for visitors. “After all, visitors have to relax now and then, too,” he says. The Berlin Trauma Center is trying to create a more homelike atmosphere or environment in some of the waiting rooms by setting up sofas and partitions. Some hospitals in the U.S. have even gone a step further. For example, the new neurological intensive care unit at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta now has a separate family room next to each treatment room so that family members can provide patients with intensive support. Even though hospitals are becoming more and more comfortable and appealing, the patients’ main concern remains the expertise of the doctors and nursing staff so that they can obtain reliable diagnoses and optimal treatment. Giving workplaces and hospital rooms a state-of-the- art design can be helpful in this regard. For example, it is becoming increasingly difficult to place all of the required equipment next to the patient’s bed in an intensive care unit so that doctors and nursing staff can easily get an overview of the situation and quickly access the patient from all sides. “In the previous building, the devices were connected to a wall
system at the head of the patient’s bed,” says Dr. Konrad. “As a result, you almost tripped over the big pile of cables when you did a bronchoscopy, for example.” Today, the supply unit in the form of a beam is mounted to the ceiling. This system from Dräger, which is called Ponta, integrates all of the gas lines, electricity cables, and data transmission lines. Various workstations can be attached to this beam and can be moved along a rail system and a swivel arm. All of the “wet” equipment for infusions and suctioning are located on one side of the patient, while the other side is reserved for “dry” equipment such as respirators and monitors. “In addition to providing a clearer overview, this system has a big advantage in that it allows us to walk around the patient,” says Dr. Konrad. “What’s more, the new system makes the rooms look bigger.” This is also beneficial for patients and visitors, since the beds are no longer surrounded by a tangle of tubes and cables. Now patients can have an overview of the various devices and recognize where a particular hose leads to, for example.
Sudden changes in brightness or monotonous lighting interfere with the biorhythm and may delay the recovery of the patient. Factors such as the attention and concentration of the staff, which may influence job performance, are also affected. The supply units therefore can increasingly incorporate sophisticated lighting systems. One new lighting option simulates natural daylight over a course of twelve hours by modifying the lighting conditions, creating a comfortable atmosphere for patients
Sudden changes in brightness or monotonous lighting interfere with the biorhythm and may delay the recovery of the patient.
and staff. Alternatively, hospital employees can create different color temperatures and moods with the individually adjustable lighting in the primary colors red, green and blue (RGB light).
During the night, the navigation light on the top side of the arms of the ceiling supply unit and the bottom side of the media column allow nursing staff to move around safely without bothering sleeping patients.
Inspiring technology
The design of hospital equipment has changed with the times as well. “Laypeople often don’t even recognize the respirators any more,” says Witt. The rectangular, metallic machines of the past have been replaced by smaller devices that have rounded shapes. In addition, options such as Dräger’s Color Line enable hospitals to select supply units in a variety of colors that are coordinated with the room in which the equipment is installed. All of these measures can help patients react to the unfamiliar hospital situation in a more relaxed way. “Medical technology can frighten patients who are totally dependent on it, and who can no longer exert any control over their environment,” says Dr. Konrad. “Things don’t have to be that way, however. In many cases, we’ve discovered that technology can even have an inspiring effect.”
22 INsIGHT ON
Hospital & HealtHcare ManageMent Vol. 1 Issue 3 Nov. 2011
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56