BY

As a healthcare interior designer, I have been fortunate to gain experience in designing nearly every type of space within a healthcare facility. Throughout each project, a key theme for all design decisions developed around patient-centered design. Many times during the design process, I found myself asking, “what does that do for the staff? ” or “what could be done to make nurses more comfortable, efficient, and safe? ” It was around this time in my professional life that I began my journey in pursuit of a master’s degree to explore these issues in greater detail. This topic developed over several months as I started to explore the work environments of nurses. Each class was instrumental in helping me take a step closer to narrowing this topic and I am grateful for all the insight provided by the instructors. The guidance of my adviser, Dr. Caren Martin, has been especially instrumental throughout this process. Dr. Martin not only provided me knowledge on the research process, but also encouragement to keep going. I would like to extend a special thanks to Dr. Martin for her thoughtful comments and dedicated time during the revision phases. I hope you can now have some free time to spend with your family and not with a mountain of paper needing revisions from this graduate student. I would also like to acknowledge the contributions of my committee members