Date of Award

12-2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Legacy Department

Industrial Engineering

Committee Member

Dr. David M. Neyens, PhD, MHA, Committee Chair

Committee Member

Dr. Ken Catchpole, PhD

Committee Member

Dr. Joel Greenstein, PhD

Committee Member

Dr. Scott Mason, PhD

Abstract

Facility design has been identified as a factor resulting in improved patient safety and quality care regarding patient movement, patient visibility, and standardized caregiving (Reiling et al., 2004). Despite research indicating violence towards healthcare workers (HCWs) can be improved through facility design changes (Catlette, 2005; Gates, 2004), there is very little literature examining the relationship between hospital design characteristics and the perception of HCW’s safety (Peek-Asa et al., 2007). The objective of this research is to understand the impact of emergency department (ED) facility design on the HCW’s perception of patient safety, their own safety, and workplace efficiency (i.e., their ability to do their best work). A survey was designed and conducted to understand HCW’s perception of the facility design within the ED with respect to patient safety, healthcare worker safety, and efficiency. The results of this study indicate design features perceived to be most influential when treating specific patient types vary between patient safety, employee safety, and efficiency. Grades given to two different facility designed areas within the ED showed variation between the areas with respect to patient safety, employee safety, and efficiency. The results of this study show specific design features should be considered when designing a facility with respect to patient safety, employee safety, and efficiency. Identifying these differences in the specific design features and overall facility design preferred by HCWs with respect to patient safety, HCW safety, and efficiency provides insight into the opportunities of designing a facility with all the over-arching concepts in mind.

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.