How to Design a Hospital That Takes Care of the Caregivers

As many people continue to return to the workplace in the aftermath of the pandemic, they raise a series of concerns. For healthcare professionals, these are not new questions. Caregivers never stopped going to the "office," with hospitals operating as critical workspaces.

Now, there are growing concerns over health and well-being in hospitals that have led to a rethink of interior design. At the same time, the rise of telehealth requires hospital interior designers to create more flexible spaces.

This article will explore the trends in caregiving that are influencing today’s hospital design. We’ll then cover the key elements healthcare interior design professionals are using to help create hospital spaces that take care of the caregivers.

Caregiving Trends to Consider When Designing Hospital Interiors

There have been a number of new trends in healthcare that have developed since the pandemic. These changes require a different approach to hospital interior design. Caregivers work hard over long hours and have become increasingly dissatisfied with their working environment. This dissatisfaction is compounded by other stresses on the healthcare system.

Here are a few examples of how healthcare settings are being challenged today:

• In the UK, the Royal College of Nursing^[1] is urging a pay rise of 5 percentage points above inflation to attract and retain staff;
• The NHS Staff Survey^[2] revealed that just 21% of nurse workers in 2021 felt their organisation had enough staff to perform their job properly;
• The percentage of nurses who would recommend their organisation as a place to work has declined from 67% in 2020 to 58% in 2021;
• Medical professionals in France, Spain, Romania, Cyrus, Slovakia, and Slovenia report^[3] unsatisfying quality of services provided by their hospitals;
• Job satisfaction for Italian medical professionals declines^[4] when the quality of their facilities deteriorates.

An important aspect of these trends to consider is that this continuing decline in satisfaction has occurred after the pandemic. The pandemic may have exposed some of the flaws in how hospitals take caregivers into consideration. But the ramifications are still being felt even as much of the industry returns to business as usual.

Other healthcare professional trends have been steadily worsening over the last few years. The National Results Briefing data^[5] from the NHS Survey shows that:

• In 2021, 46.8% of staff had been unwell as a result of work-related stress. This figure has increased for four consecutive years;
• In the same year, 30.8% of staff experienced musculoskeletal problems, also part of an increasing trend over consecutive years.

Additional issues have been reported in European countries. For example, in Bulgaria^[6], research indicates doctors are unhappy with their wages, work-life balance, and health service reforms.

The combined effect of these findings is a healthcare workforce with lower morale, with greater numbers thinking about leaving the profession.

Responding to the report, Em Wilkinson-Brice, acting chief people officer for the NHS in England, said, “We have maintained our focus on health and wellbeing as set out in our People Plan, including a 24/7 text support line, greater options for flexible working and rapid access to mental health services when needed." ^[7]

A key element of the solution to these negative trends lies in reshaping the interior spaces of hospitals. This means reconsidering how space, light, acoustics, and biophilic elements can be used to enhance well-being and reduce stress to a minimum.

Hospital Interior Design For Caregivers—The Key Elements

There are several key elements to consider when designing hospital interiors for both caregivers and their patients. Healthcare interiors vary, with how architects approach nurse station design different from how they would approach a communal area such as a hallway.

Let's take a look at each element, and how our Rockfon stone wool tiles and panels can be incorporated into these designs.

Natural Light 

The impact of natural light on mental well-being is well-established. The use of natural light in healthcare facilities helps to reduce eye strain from working with monitors. It also helps to amplify Vitamin D, exposing caretakers to this essential component for a healthy body.

With health a high priority in hospitals, the role natural light plays is crucial. Using the right materials to enhance natural light is essential for establishing and maintaining physical and mental well-being.

Our Rockfon Blanka® tile is the whitest and brightest ceiling tile in our collection, with excellent light reflection and diffusion. They have a smooth, deep matt finish that makes hospital interiors more comfortable and well-lit.

Additionally, the non-directional surface allows these panels to be easily installed. At the same time, the anti-static surface will minimise potential exposure to dirt and dust. They have a broad range of applications within the hospital setting, including receptions, corridors, and consulting rooms.

Acoustics

How sound carries around space can also have a large impact on health and well-being. When people are experiencing too many distractions, focus becomes impossible and stress soon follows.

Creating the perfect hospital acoustics requires a combination of effective use of space and the construction of sound-absorbing materials. The way these are oriented will vary from one area of the hospital to the next. Public spaces, such as receptions and waiting areas, need to be designed differently than private areas, such as consulting and patient rooms.

Rockfon® MediCare® Plus wall and ceiling tiles are ideal for interior spaces that are dedicated to enhance patient recovery. They are also well-suited for creating the calm, comforting mood needed for caregivers looking to avoid stress. With their sound-absorbing materials, these tiles can be installed on walls and ceilings to block disturbances from adjacent rooms.

Flexible Collaborative Workspace

The final core element of hospital interior design to accommodate the demands of caregivers is flexibility. This requires building components that designers can quickly and easily reconfigure to meet new demands. Spaces need to be multifunctional, switching between enclosed private rooms to collaborative workspaces. To achieve this, wall and ceiling panels need to be capable of being broken apart and scaled with ease.

To help interior designers achieve this flexibility, we’ve constructed Rockfon Hub® and Rockfon Canva® to offer designers complete creative freedom. Through their easy installation and separation, our tiles and panels offer interior designers the capability to future-proof hospital spaces.

Incorporating the Core Elements into Interior Design for Hospitals

The solutions to the issues caregivers are facing surrounding mental and physical health and well-being are multifaceted. But it is clear that interior design can have a positive impact on this problem in a variety of ways.

Interior architects working on hospital workspaces need to ensure all the key elements outlined above are carefully considered. This means creating spaces full of natural light with the tone and texture of biophilic design. It means creating acoustics for optimal separation of noise from one area to the next, so caregivers can focus on work without distractions.

Acoustic wall and ceiling solutions will help interior designers create better work environments for caregivers in hospitals. This will ensure that the areas are both healthy and conducive to well-being.

Sources

1. _{Financial Times. 2022. “Is Britain Headed for a Summer of Strikes?,” June 20, 2022. https://www.ft.com/content/e3218bab-9102-4945-ab0d-8899e3e2bca9.}
2. _{“Results | Working to Improve NHS Staff Experiences | NHS Staff Survey.” n.d. Www.nhsstaffsurveys.com. https://www.nhsstaffsurveys.com/results/.}
3. _{Spedicato, Alessandra. n.d. “Doctor’s Professional Satisfaction across Europe FEMS Survey -Preliminary Results.” Accessed June 29, 2022. https://www.fems.net/images/Fems_documents/Documents/2021/F21-066_Doctors_professional_satisfaction_across_Europe.pdf.}
4. _{Barili, Fabio, and Alessandro Parolari. 2022. “Commentary: Looking for Certainties, Finding Uncertainties.” The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery 163 (2): 763. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtcvs.2020.12.007.}
5. _{“NHS Staff Survey 2021 National Results Briefing.” 2022.}
6. _{“Job Satisfaction Low among Doctors.” n.d. Eurofound. Accessed June 29, 2022. https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/article/2013/job-satisfaction-low-among-doctors.}
7. _{Swindon Advertiser. 2022. “Great Western Hospital Staff ‘Stressed and Burnt out and Unhappy with Patient Care,’” April 12, 2022. https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/20059813.great-western-hospital-staff-stressed-burnt-unhappy-patient-care/.}
8. _{Yin, Jie, Jing Yuan, Nastaran Arfaei, Paul J. Catalano, Joseph G. Allen, and John D. Spengler. 2020. “Effects of Biophilic Indoor Environment on Stress and Anxiety Recovery: A Between-Subjects Experiment in Virtual Reality.” Environment International 136 (March): 105427. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2019.105427.}