Patient Room Design: Engaging Clinical Teams Through Iterative Simulation-Based Evaluation.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare design and architecture
• Clinical operations and workflow optimization
• Patient safety and experience

Background:

• Hospital patient room design significantly impacts patient and staff outcomes.
• Balancing diverse needs and ensuring future flexibility in room design presents challenges.
• Simulation-based mock-up evaluations offer a practical method for engaging clinicians in healthcare facility design discussions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a standardized patient room design for multiple acuity levels.
• To assess the impact of bathroom location (inboard vs. outboard) and configuration on clinical workflows.
• To leverage iterative simulation-based evaluations with clinical teams for design feedback.

Main Methods:

• Utilized focus groups, surveys, and observations across three evaluation phases.
• Assessed bathroom location, room layout, and critical room areas (bathroom, family zone, sink, work surface, headwall).
• Compared headwall versus footwall outboard bathroom configurations through simulation scenarios.

Main Results:

• An outboard bathroom configuration enhanced corridor connection, room functionality, equipment flow, and family space.
• Simulation identified spatial challenges and informed design refinement recommendations.
• Clinicians favored the footwall bathroom for superior workflow support during simulated patient care activities.

Conclusions:

• The outboard footwall bathroom configuration effectively supported staff workflows and patient care activities.
• Iterative simulation-based evaluation proved highly effective for gathering clinician design input within their work context.