Top 5 Ways to Improve Your Emergency Room Design

Top 5 Ways to Improve Your Emergency Room Design

Emergency rooms are the cornerstone of hospital efficiency.

Overcrowding in emergency rooms has been associated with increased patient mortality, running costs, and wait times.

When the emergency department is overcrowded, patients who need immediate care are the ones who are hit the hardest. Patients with lower-priority problems often leave without seeing a qualified medical professional.

To prevent this from happening in your emergency room, follow these five ways below to improve its design:

1. Prioritize Efficiency

Emergency rooms should be designed to enhance speed.

Improving speed and efficiency is essential to improve patient care, safety, and triage flow. Efficiency is not just about readiness to help a patient; it extends to advanced material choices that help control hospital-acquired infections to reduce return visits.

Leverage healthcare data to make informed decisions to prioritize efficient layouts. Analyse data on processing times and study how traffic moves through an emergency room to gain valuable insights.

2. Clear Paths

Offer comfortable waiting room seating to prevent patients from milling around areas and doorways.

Clear paths help to save lives when every second counts. Your doctors and nurses do not have time to negotiate with patients with non-life-threatening conditions while attending to more serious emergencies like appendicitis.

Create short, logical paths throughout the emergency room to help improve patient safety and triage flow.

3. Upgrade Equipment

Emergency departments are expertly-stocked with intricate and essential equipment, including stethoscopes, cardiac monitors, orthopedic equipment, trays, and carts.

Consider upgrading your equipment if it is not conducive to working efficiently and effectively. Invest in well-designed equipment, such as an InnerSpace anesthesia cart.

Carts like these come in five heights and drawer configurations, including tilt bins, accessory rails, and push handles. They can accommodate a variety of accessories inside and out and are durable.

4. Label Everything

An emergency room is often the busiest part of any hospital.

The lives of patients are in the hands of your staff. Ensure accurate, consistent labeling of medication and supplies at all times. Use high-quality labels that will not be affected by sanitizers.

Labels in an emergency room must be easy to read and comply with healthcare regulations.

Audit the labels in your emergency room and ensure that standardized formats have been used and the text is legible.

5. Use Vertical Space

Vertical space in an emergency room refers to areas where patients can sit in chairs instead of lying flat in beds. This “vertical care” model can improve patient flow.

Patients who can sit upright in chairs can be seen more quickly and chairs use less space than traditional hospital beds.

While this only works for patients with less serious issues, it often works best to design an emergency room that can accommodate both chairs and beds.

To End

The goal of any emergency department is to deliver world-class care in the most efficient and compliant way.

Follow these tips above to build an emergency room that perfectly aligns with the needs of its patients and staff.

Disclaimer: The content on Wellness Derive is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a healthcare provider for medical concerns.

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