Influence of nursing unit layout on staff communication and interaction patterns. Unpublished

This study tried to connect two separately established areas of research: 1) the importance of communication in delivering quality of care; and 2) the relationship between physical design and communication in healthcare delivery. A pre-post design intervention study was conducted to assess the impact of a decentralized vs. centralized nursing station layout of an ICCU on unplanned, opportunistic communication and interaction patterns among clinical care staff. The study was carried out through systematic observations of communication frequencies and behaviors within the ICCU both before and after its relocation to a new space. The research design also assessed the relationship between the location of different nursing pods on the new ICCU and informal communication patterns. Results showed a dramatic reduction in interactions in the new decentralized ICCU as compared to the old space. In the face of an increasing preference for decentralization in nursing unit layout these findings suggest a more thorough analysis of their costs and benefits for a range of valued patient and staff outcomes; and then t