Control in healthcare interiors: the staff’s perspective

Abstract

As two of the most stressful professions, doctors and nurses work intensively in direct contact with patients. However, there has been little research into their perception of and satisfaction with healthcare interiors. To fill this gap in the literature, this study evaluated the working, resting, and dining spaces of healthcare staff in terms of control. Specifically, privacy, boundary and territory, and environmental control were analyzed in four state hospitals as case studies. Following a literature review, observations, semi-structured interviews, and surveys were conducted with doctors and nurses from the four hospitals in 2017. The findings showed that controlling privacy, boundaries, and environmental control elements like natural and artificial lighting, noise and odour were important for the participants. This indicates a need to ensure privacy and boundaries more effectively through separate spaces and furniture while noise and odour should also be given more attention.

KEYWORDS:

• Healthcare interiors
• healthcare staff
• control
• privacy
• boundary and territory
• environmental control

Acknowledgements

This study is part of the Scientific Research Project [BAP048] ‘Healthcare Interiors: Space Perception and Satisfaction of the Healthcare Staff Towards the Quality of Working and Resting Spaces in Healthcare Buildings’, funded by Yaşar University. The authors would like to thank Yaşar University, the management of the four hospitals analyzed, and İzmir South Public Hospitals Association for their support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 They are abbreviated as ÇeşmeSH, UrlaSH, TepecikSH, and TireSH, respectively, throughout this paper.

2 It was not mandatory to participate the survey.

3 Sub-nurse stations can vary in size to service 1–4 or more patients and used by one nurse or a group. They may be located in various places in the unit, including the hallways and even patient rooms. The medicine room is usually a secure area in the unit for storing medication distribution equipment and other drug administration materials (IV syringes, flushes, etc).