Feng shui And Emotional Response in the Critical care Environment (FARCE) study

Area of Science:

• Environmental Psychology
• Nursing Staff Well-being
• Traditional Chinese Medicine

Background:

• The impact of the physical environment on healthcare professionals' emotional states is crucial for patient care quality.
• Feng shui, an ancient Chinese practice, offers principles for optimizing environmental energy ('chi') flow.
• Investigating feng shui's potential to enhance the emotional well-being of nursing staff in critical care settings is warranted.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the correlation between feng shui-oriented critical care bed spaces and nursing staff's emotional states and inner harmony.
• To assess the efficacy of feng shui principles in improving the work environment for critical care nurses.

Main Methods:

• Two critical care bed space orientations (wind and water groups) were mapped using a western bagua.
• Nursing staff worked in these spaces for two weeks, reporting emotional states and inner harmony on an 11-point chi scale.
• A control group of nurses not assigned to study beds was included for comparison.

Main Results:

• No statistically significant relationship was found between critical bed space orientation (feng shui) and nurse-reported chi scores or inner harmony (p > 0.05).
• Poor correlation was observed between bagua-predicted chi scores and self-reported chi scores for both wind (R² = 0.338) and water (R² = 0.093) groups.
• The feng shui-based environmental modifications did not yield measurable improvements in nursing staff emotional well-being.

Conclusions:

• Applying feng shui principles to critical care bed space design does not demonstrably enhance the emotional well-being of nursing staff.
• Current feng shui methodologies may not be suitable or effective for optimizing the emotional health of healthcare professionals in critical care units.
• Further research may explore alternative environmental interventions or refine feng shui applications in healthcare settings.