Emergency Nurses' Perceptions of Efficiency and Design: Examining ED Structure, Process, and Outcomes

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Design
• Emergency Medicine
• Quality Improvement

Background:

• Emergency departments (EDs) face increasing demands, necessitating improvements in efficiency and care quality.
• The interplay between ED physical structure, processes, and outcomes is vital for assessing care quality.
• Research simultaneously examining these three components in EDs is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate emergency nurses' perceptions of efficiency and satisfaction with a new academic ED's design.
• To analyze the relationship between structural and process factors and staff perceptions.

Main Methods:

• Data collection via observation, walking measurements, and staff questionnaires.
• Correlation analysis to explore relationships between structure, process, and outcome factors.
• Hierarchical linear regression to identify key predictors of efficiency and design satisfaction.

Main Results:

• All examined structure and process factors were significantly associated with efficiency perceptions and design satisfaction.
• Key factors included unit configuration, technology, lighting, visibility, patient room layout, storage, walkability, staff stress, data access, and teamwork.
• Positive associations were found between well-designed environments and improved staff perceptions.

Conclusions:

• The built environment's structure significantly influences healthcare processes and efficient care delivery.
• Optimizing ED design can enhance both patient and staff satisfaction.
• The designed environment is critical for improving performance, productivity, and staff morale.