Healthcare Facility Design Trends, Nurse Influence on Built Environment

LANCASTER, Pa. – The latest in healthcare facility design and the influence of nurses in the design of the built environment were the focus of a recent gathering of members of the Nursing Institute for Healthcare Design.

In a freewheeling discussion hosted by Art Dodge, Ecore president and CEO; Bo Barber, Ecore vice president of marketing and business development and Mark Huxta, Ecore director of healthcare sales, the board members discussed several major trends. One such topic: the role of nurses in healthcare design.

According to the NIHD, nurses are one of the most underutilized resources in the planning and design of clinical environments. In addition to nurses’ role in healthcare design, the group also covered challenges in designing the healthcare space.

“Economics is one of the most influential factors in the long run that influences design decisions,” said Joyce Durham, NIHD president elect. “Other important considerations in the specification of different types of surfaces include safety, noise, durability and aesthetics.”

The group also agreed that flooring is an important component of healthcare facility design. According to Durham, carpeting, however, isn’t necessarily an ideal solution as there are more infection control issues than nonporous, hard-surface flooring.

One challenge to testing floor performance, however, is that there is no objective, universally accepted testing criteria for measuring flooring ergonomics in the healthcare setting.

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