Equipping your facility with a practical nurses’ station is crucial to providing a productive healthcare environment. Doing so will provide a space for your staff that feels safe and open, allowing them to interact with patients, while respecting staff-patient boundaries. It also creates a space for your staff to take a break, rest, or conduct administrative activities.
Designing useful nurse stations requires a delicate balance of function, form, and openness. As this is where staff can work while remaining accessible to patients, it is imperative to plan the space with care. That also means equipping it with specialised storage systems, so they have instant access to patient files. Here’s what you need to know about creating a productive and effective nurse station desk:
The Function of Nurse Stations
To get started on designing your nurse stations, inspect the functions near the space and study how it relates to the nurses’ station itself. You’ll want to create a thoughtfully designed environment that will encourage a healthy and positive mindset in patients, who typically reside in a unit or wing near these stations. Keep in mind the functions of individual rooms, such as a dayroom for hobbies and leisure like playing games or eating, and a quiet place for reading and studying.
With this insight, create a nurses’ station that supports patient interaction to ensure that they ask for help when they need it. However, be sure that you also design a space that protects your staff members in case patients exhibit dangerous behaviours. With an experienced designer, you can marry the two into building an innovative nurses’ station that meets both these needs.
Visible and Hidden Areas
Nurse stations must have eyes on key therapy spaces to keep tabs on patient activity. Your staff will need a simple nurse station desk that is visible and appears approachable to patients. The desk can also have a tall counter to serve as a boundary while being located in a corridor to have an open view of patient rooms. It can also have one computer monitor or a phone so protect any work material from tampering or observation from outside parties.
The central work desk, however, must have rounded corners so that patients have few opportunities to toy with the surface or harm themselves. It must also limit the number of staff that can work inside it, as staff spend most of their time with patients.
The hidden areas of a functional nurses’ station will be the treatment planning room, which is often behind the desk. These spots must offer the same direct views to patient activity, allowing staff to keep a close eye on therapy spaces. You must also make sure to glaze the windows with shatterproof material to protect your staff. It will also help to install medical storage units so that staff can easily dispense medication to patients in the corridor.
Factoring Operational Support
Another critical factor to a successful nurses’ station is making sure it provides operational support. Staff culture must understand the reason for the design to help it fulfil its true potential. For example, having an open desk will encourage patients to interact with staff, as there won’t be a glass barrier between them. If your team doesn’t understand this, then they may not reinforce the thought process of the design, subconsciously hindering the intent to create a healing environment for your patients.
Open designs can also encourage more favourable outcomes among patients. They can behave more calmly with staff behind open-facing desks compared to closed nurses’ stations, especially if they know that they are encouraged to seek their help.
Conclusion
Your nurse station desk is central to your facility’s environment. It is the hub that attends to patient concerns, monitors their activity, and provides an open and hopeful atmosphere for everyone. Design influences the vibe of a place, so putting careful thought into designing your nurses’ station is a surefire way to serve both patients and staff efficiently.
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