Introduction
The quality revolution is currently transforming the health care sector (Cama, 2009). The health care sector and the public are now informed of the need to improve the health care processes. Equally, increased competition in the sector is now forcing health care institutions to improve the quality and safety of services by focusing more on the necessities of the patients and their families (Cama, 2009). To achieve the above initiatives, the health care sector must adopt evidence-based design (EBD). EBD is a practice for careful, precise, and well-thought-out use of existing preeminent support from studies and processes in coming up with vital decisions, together with the informed client, concerning the blueprint of each distinctive project. The practice has become trendy in health care because of its potential to enhance patient and personnel comfort, patient therapy, stress management, and security. In this regard, the practice should be implemented in the renovation of ambulatory care.
History of evidence-based design in healthcare
During the late 19th century, Florence Nightingale noted nursing could be administered with ease and was effective when nursing rooms were calm, appropriately lighted, warm, and had run clean water (Cama, 2009). Later, she employed statistics for nursing and documented the causes of death in the military wars. Her studies later led to advancements in hygiene. The advancements were realized even though the germ hypothesis was not in existence at the time. Evidence-based design in healthcare was first created in America during the 1960s (Cama, 2009). Later, in the 1970s, several architectural studies were undertaken in the United Kingdom and in America to ascertain the effects of health care layout on personnel productivity. During the same period, social scientists carried out research on supervision and wayfinding.
During the year 1984, an investigation by Roger Ulrich established that patients who had been admitted in surgical wards underwent fewer difficulties, used fewer painkillers, and was released earlier than the patients admitted in other wards were (Cama, 2009). Ulrich found that the patients in the surgical ward did well than the other patients in other wards because they had a view of nature from their hospital beds. The other wards were covered with brick walls. Currently, researches exist concerning the psychological impacts of appropriate lighting, flooring, and noise management on health care patients. The researchers suggest that there is a relationship between the physical surroundings and enhancement of clients, personnel’s safety, well-being, and contentment.
Changes and approaches
Concerning ambulatory care, there are several changes and approaches undertaken when implementing the evidenced-based design. First, the approach can only be undertaken when building new ambulatory care or when renovating an existing unit (Guenther & Vittori, 2008). Before the process is undertaken, the stakeholders, the clients, the healthcare personnel, the architects, and the researchers in evidence-based design are brought together to form a team. The team will then come up with a planned directive, which can guide to enhanced results through the examination of precedent and facility performance intelligence. Thereafter, the team should support an established design aspect or motivate a groundbreaking idea hypothesized to enhance a specified outcome (Guenther & Vittori, 2008). Before the design is implemented, the team should consign to a post-occupancy research project to disclose the achievement or malfunction of the hypothesized outcome.
The use of evidence-based design in a health care facility
During ambulatory care planning, the evidence-based design would come in handy. For the last few decades, ambulatory care centers in the USA have been remodeled to offer long-awaited improvements and meet present and future demands (Hayward, 2006). Thus, design-based evidence that validates healthcare building initiatives in respect to future flexibility is vital for the lasting feasibility of healthcare organizations. Health care stakeholders must plan for several random forces, which may affect health care services in the future. Therefore, with the use of evidence-based tools, the stakeholders can plan to construct facilities that will be compliant enough to accommodate the uncertainties expected in the future (Hayward, 2006).
Why design is important
I believe that evidence-based design should be adopted in the renovation of ambulatory care because of its numerous benefits. The necessity to swap aging facilities, come up with competitive health care services, ease staff, and material flow, enhance operational efficiencies, enhance technological advances, enhance customer privacy, lessen preventable, hospital-acquired injuries and infections should motivate ambulatory care centers to adopt evidenced-based design in their renovation projects. With respect to my project, EBD will play a very important role in eradicating resource waste, enhancing direct patient care time, developing exceptional patient care practice, and sustaining replicas for future delivery.
Conclusion
The above successes will be attained because through the project our ambulatory care will decrease the steps needed for physicians to acquire provisions and get ready for the clinic, modify the care delivery model and offer more room for interdisciplinary partnership, and add to the number of private spaces for the patients and their families. Based on the above illustrations, I do hope that the stakeholders would consider my project.
References
Cama, R. (2009). Evidence-based healthcare design. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons.
Guenther, R., & Vittori, G. (2008). Sustainable healthcare architecture. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons.
Hayward, C. (2006). Healthcare facility planning: thinking strategically. Chicago, IL: Health Administration Press.