What are some best practices in terms of design and optimizing the work space?
HAMILTON: I don’t believe anybody’s doing it yet. You’ve got to understand how the patient flows through the system, how the information flows through the system, how the supplies move through the system. You’ve got to integrate that while you’re short-staffed and delivering superb quality care at the bedside. SCANLON: Ethnic diversity among patients will also be an issue in design. Hispanic populations, for instance, have an unspoken requirement that all family members be present when someone’s in the hospital. We have to look at the spaces and the size of spaces and how we’re going to accommodate large numbers of people. As we’ve had to increase the size of the spaces, we’re seeing a difference. The nurses can relax. We cannot forget the diversity across our country and how it’s changing, especially along our borders. It’s definitely affecting health care and how it’s delivered. BRIDEAU: We talked about this a bit earlier, but I think it has workforce implications–decentralized nurs
