Original article is published in Healthcare Design Magazine August 2014 edition by Barbara Horwitz-Bennett. Please visit www.HCDMagazine.com for the original article.
The days of Healthcare Staff locker rooms decked out with mismatched chairs and rickety tables are long gone. Rather, providing a comfortable setting for workers has become a priority that’s made its way to the top of ownership’s priority lists, all in an effort to punch up staff productivity as well as recruitment and retention.
The trend has translated to a number of design demands from break rooms that look more like business-class lounges to nurses’ stations designed to support an optimal work environment.
“Reducing stress and fatigue and providing ergonomically supportive spaces are are now top-level goals confirms Carolyn BaRoss, design principal and firm-wide healthcare interior design director for Perkins+Will (New York). “It’s in healthcare organizations’ best interest to have happy and healthy staff who enjoy their workplace and are as effective as possible in it.”
Well-laid plans
Historically, the design of staff spaces came as an afterthought, with dedicated areas often carved out of windowless corners. “Staff was left to steal or borrow from other program spaces to accommodate needs for respite, breaks and education.” says Bob Schilling, senior principal at Champlin Architecture (Cincinnati).
Today, though, staff real estate is often considered during the programmatic phase of development. While the Facility Guidelines Institute’s Guidelines for Design and Construction of Hospital and Outpatient Facilities recommends allocating a minimum of 100 square feet for staff lounges and areas of respite, Haley Driscoll, director of healthcare interior design at Francis Cauffman (Philadelphia), says that comfortable staff space can be created with as little as 80 square feet.
“It’s less about allocated square footage per person and more about the way in which spaces are organized, and where and how they can be strategically located within the facility to maximize flexibility and add value,” BaRoss agrees.
As for location of break rooms, convenient access from work areas is important. However, available space in proximity to patients in generally limited, so optimally sitting these rooms can be a challenge, Schilling says. Additionally, balancing location with the creation of on-stage and off-stage areas is critical, too. This allows a necessary separation from patient care and treatment spaces, especially to provide staff with the distance required to refresh and recharge.
And while strides are being made to better accommodate staff, hospitals’ primary focus remains on the patient experience. As such, staff “extras” are often considered to the extent of providing convenience and support, as opposed to rolling out luxury accommodations. “Every feature must provide benefit to the bottom line- for example, enhancing efficiency, saving time, relieving stress, and/or improving communications,” Schilling says.
Take Five
Because patient families may not always appreciate seeing staff relaxing instead of working, the idea is locate break rooms at the end of units, says Jennifer Aliber, a
principal at Shepley Bulfinch (Boston). At the same time, if these spaces are more than a few minutes away from work areas, it can be difficult for staff to access the break room during a 30-minute lunch. As such, David Derr, a principal at Shepley Bulfinch (Phoenix), recommends locating the room within the unit, even long units, as opposed to clustering these support spaces elsewhere.
In terms of furnishings rest areas, designers say they generally seek a more residential feel and strive to make a connection to the out-doors. “Depending on the space available, we place a variety of furniture options in the room for the staff to choose from, including cafe tables, coffee bars with high stools, computer carrels, lounge seating, and even recliners or ottomans,” Driscoll says.
For example, at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, currently under construction, HDR Architecture designed break rooms inspired by business-class airport lounges as well as single-occupant staff meditation rooms with plush seating, warm color tones, dimmable lighting, and softer surfaces for better acoustics, says Jim Atkinson, healthcare planning principal at HDR (Charlotte, N.C.).
On another recent HDR project, Dallas’ new Parkland Hospital, staff can take advantage of areas of respire along private courtyards, and nursing mothers have access to lactation rooms. And at both St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson, N.J., and St. Joseph’s Wayne Hospital in Wayne, N.J., designed by Francis Cauffman, Watson Rooms – inspired by Jean Watson’s theory of caring- feature lounge chairs with a message feature, dimmable lighting, and soft background music. The concept is that by better caring for themselves, nurses are empowered to care for their patients in a more personable way.
Beyond break rooms, some hospitals are incorporating outdoor dining terraces, gardens, and walking paths, while others offer facilities to support employees’ interests such as bike racks and showers for those who prefer to bicycle to work. In some cases, hospitals offer concierge services such as dry cleaning or retail pharmacies.
Overall, designers also take steps to distinguish staff areas from patient-facing zones to allow a mental separation for workers, too. “To provide diversion and visual interest, materials, furnishings, colors and style may be different,” BaRoss says. “In addition, logos or brand images are typically not displayed in these spaces to allow caregivers some respite from the reminders of work.”
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