The Application of Augmented Reality in Simulation-Based Design Evaluations of Trauma Rooms.

Purpose: This study examined the augmented reality (AR) application in design evaluations through an immersive experience of medical task simulations in combination with a full-scale physical mock-up of a trauma room.

Background: Augmented reality technology is emerging in various fields including architectural design. Traditionally, building physical mock-ups has been the most effective tool to involve end-users in design evaluations.

The Impact of Sensory Stimuli on Healthcare Workers and Outcomes in Trauma Rooms: A Focus Group Study.

Objective: This study investigated issues related to noise, lighting, and temperature in trauma rooms that impact patient care and staff performance.

Background: Uncontrolled sensory stimuli can hinder healthcare delivery quality in trauma rooms. High noise and temperature levels can increase staff stress and discomfort as well as patient discomfort.

The influence of physical environment on health care-associated infections: A literature review.

Background: Health care-associated infections (HAIs) are a common issue in health care settings, caused by environmental microorganisms, leading to health risks and financial strain. Despite efforts to reduce HAIs, the role of the physical environment in reducing HAIs is not fully understood. This literature review aimed to identify physical environment variables contributing to HAIs.

Understanding "Work as Done": Using a Structured Video-Based Observational Method to Understand and Model the Role of the Physical Environment in Complex Clinical Work Systems.

Objective: To describe the planning, development, and implementation of a structured video-based observational method that can be used to systematically examine and model the role of the physical environment within healthcare systems.

Background: Direct observation methods are often used in healthcare to study complex healthcare systems. However, these observations often occur in real time, which predisposes the collected data to shortcomings such as time lags in recording of activities, overlooking events, or limiting the scope of information than can be collected.

Drive-Through Urgent Care Centers: Could They Be the Future of Healthcare Facilities?

Objective: This study assessed the perception of people toward drive-through healthcare services, their willingness to use them, and the scope of services they would like to receive in a post-pandemic world.

Background: The abrupt spread of COVID-19 urged healthcare facilities to adopt new infection-control measures. Drive-through testing facilities were implemented as one of the measures to minimize physical contact between healthcare workers and test-takers.

The Role of the Physical Environment in Shaping Interruptions and Disruptions in Complex Health Care Settings: A Scoping Review.

Interruptions and disruptions in complex healthcare environments, such as trauma rooms, can lead to compromised workflow and safety issues due to the physical environment's characteristics. This scoping review investigated the impact of the physical environment on interruptions and disruptions and the associated outcomes in complex environments, as they relate to the components of the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) was used to conduct the scoping review.

The relationship between sensory stimuli and the physical environment in complex healthcare settings: A systematic literature review.

Objectives: This systematic review presented the current status of literature on the outcomes resulted from sensory stimuli in critical care environments as well as the environmental interventions that can improve or impede the impact of such sensory stimuli.

Methods: Articles found through a systematic search of PsycINFO, Web of Science, and PubMed databases, in combination with a hand search, were reviewed for eligibility by two independent coders. Reporting and quality appraisals were based on PRISMA and MMAT guidelines.

Efficiency and Teamwork in Emergency Departments: Perception of Staff on Design Interventions.

Objectives: The goal of this study is twofold: (1) identifying design strategies that enhance efficiency and support teamwork in emergency departments (EDs) and (2) identifying design features that contribute to the spread of COVID-19, based on staff perception.

Background: Due to increasing ED visits annually, an efficient work environment has become one of the main concerns in designing EDs. According to the literature, an efficient work environment and teamwork improve healthcare outcomes and positively impact staff satisfaction.

Technology integration in complex healthcare environments: A systematic literature review.

To support safety and efficient care, effective integration of technology into the timepressured, high-risk healthcare environments is critical. This systematic literature review aimed to highlight the impact of technology on the physical environment as well as the facilitators for and barriers to technology integration into complex healthcare settings, including operating rooms and trauma rooms. PsycINFO, Web of Science, and PubMed databases were utilized, along with a hand search.

Research in the Healthcare Design Practice: Design Practitioners' Perspective.

Objective: This study explores design practitioners' level of knowledge about research, their attitude toward research integration into the design practice, and the barriers to its application in the design process.

Background: Design practitioners tend to heavily rely on previous design experience and precedents rather than utilization and application of research. Research can facilitate the evaluation and creation of innovative design solutions.

Using Virtual Reality to Compare Design Alternatives Using Subjective and Objective Evaluation Methods.

Objective: This study sought to develop a method that supports a more evidence-based approach to evaluating multiple design options in virtual reality (VR), combining subjective insights gathered using traditional approaches and objective feedback gathered using the VR platform. Additionally, this study sought to understand how objective data garnered from the VR platform could be used to compliment traditional evaluation strategies.

Background: VR can be a viable research platform for supporting evidence-based design practices.

Implications of a Decentralized Postpartum Unit Design and Clinical Operations.

Objectives: This postoccupancy study sought to understand whether a decentralized unit design supported a postpartum care delivery model by evaluating nurses' efficiency, staff perception, acoustical conditions, and patient satisfaction.

Background: Today, standardization and decentralization design concepts are being applied to all types of inpatient unit. There have been many studies that investigated how these concepts influence care delivery on medical-surgical units, but no study has evaluated a postpartum unit.

Comparing the Effectiveness of Four Different Design Media in Communicating Desired Performance Outcomes With Clinical End Users.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of four different design communication media in helping clinical end users understand spatial and functional information and in supporting their ability to provide design feedback.

Background: It is critical to involve clinical end users early in the design process to test design solutions and ensure the design of a new healthcare facility supports their ability to deliver high-quality care. Traditional architectural design communication media such as floor plans and perspectives can be challenging for clinical design team members to understand.

Minor flow disruptions, traffic-related factors and their effect on major flow disruptions in the operating room.

Background: Studies in operating rooms (OR) show that minor disruptions tend to group together to result in serious adverse events such as surgical errors. Understanding the characteristics of these minor flow disruptions (FD) that impact major events is important in order to proactively design safer systems OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to use a systems approach to investigate the aetiology of minor and major FDs in ORs in terms of the people involved, tasks performed and OR traffic, as well as the location of FDs and other environmental characteristics of the OR that may contribute to these disruptions.

Methods: Using direct observation and classification of FDs via video recordings of 28 surgical procedures, this study modelled the impact of a range of system factors-location of minor FDs, roles of staff members involved in FDs, type of staff activities as well as OR traffic-related factors-on major FDs in the OR.

Using an integrative mock-up simulation approach for evidence-based evaluation of operating room design prototypes.

This paper describes the process and tools developed as part of a multidisciplinary collaborative simulation-based approach for iterative design and evaluation of operating room (OR) prototypes. Full-scale physical mock-ups of healthcare spaces offer an opportunity to actively communicate with and to engage multidisciplinary stakeholders in the design process. While mock-ups are increasingly being used in healthcare facility design projects, they are rarely evaluated in a manner to support active user feedback and engagement.

Understanding Design Vulnerabilities in the Physical Environment Relating to Patient Fall Patterns in a Psychiatric Hospital: Seven Years of Sentinel Events.

Background: The influence of the physical environment on patient falls has not been fully explored in psychiatric units, despite this patient population's vulnerability and the critical role of the physical environment in patient safety.

Aims: The research objective is to describe the spatial and temporal pattern of falls occurrences and their location in relation to the levels of safety continuum model.

Method: This article presents an exploratory case study design.

The Impact of Operating Room Layout on Circulating Nurse's Work Patterns and Flow Disruptions: A Behavioral Mapping Study.

Aim: To assess how the adjacencies of functionally different areas within operating rooms (ORs) can influence the circulating nurse's (CN) workflow patterns and disruptions.

Background: The CN plays a significant role in promoting patient safety during surgical procedures by observing, monitoring, and managing potential threats at and around the surgical field. Their work requires constant movement to different parts of the OR to support team members.

Setting the Stage: A Comparative Analysis of an Onstage/Offstage and a Linear Clinic Modules.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to understand how two different ambulatory design modules-traditional and onstage/offstage-impact operational efficiency, patient throughput, staff collaboration, and patient privacy.

Background: Delivery of healthcare is greatly shifting to ambulatory settings because of rapid advancement of medicine and technology, resulting in more day procedures and follow-up care occurring outside of hospitals. It is anticipated that outpatient services will grow roughly 15-23% within the next 10 years (Sg2, 2014).

Safety, Performance, and Satisfaction Outcomes in the Operating Room: A Literature Review.

Objective: This review of empirical literature focuses on the design of operating rooms (ORs) by investigating the physical environmental features of ORs associated with patient and staff outcomes.

Background: Many ORs built more than 30 years ago remain operational today. However, most are inadequately designed to handle the equipment, processes, and people that a contemporary OR needs to accommodate.

An Assessment of Levels of Safety in Psychiatric Units.

Objectives: This article aims to understand the incident patterns in relation to different types of spaces within a psychiatric unit, which are discussed using the five levels of safety framework.

Background: Implementing measures to improve patient safety is essential particularly in a psychiatric hospital, where limited research has been conducted on inpatient safety. Therefore, this article aims to understand the incident patterns from the lens of the five levels of safety framework, which categorizes spaces according to the level of patient supervision in psychiatric facilities, as follows: service areas, corridors, dayrooms, patient rooms and bathrooms, seclusions and admissions.

Centralized vs. Decentralized Nursing Stations: An Evaluation of the Implications of Communication Technologies in Healthcare.

Objective: This study aims to explore the relationship between the nursing station design and use of communication technologies by comparing centralized and decentralized nursing stations.

Background: The rapid changes in communication technologies in healthcare are inevitable. Communication methods can change the way occupants use a space.