• The obligation to create a healing environment for patients;
• The desire to create a supportive environment for family members;
• The responsibility to create an efficient workplace for staff; and
• The need to maximize limited space.

By understanding the myriad of health care factors and planning for the corresponding furniture considerations of each hospital area, facility managers can reap the many benefits that come from making the right choices.

Furnishing patient rooms
When planning for patient rooms, the Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities (also known as the “AIA Guidelines”), building codes and other regulations can provide some fundamental guidance, such as every patient room must have a patient chair.

Beyond such basics, however, hospitals should strongly consider ways to optimize care, space and staff efficiency, and budget resources in their furniture plans. One opportunity lies in multifunctional furniture with practical features. For instance, facility managers can look for patient recliners with locking casters and easy mobility for staff. Fabrics and finishes that are durable and easily cleanable should also be selected. Accessories—such as a tablet arm, catheter hooks and IV poles—can make recliners more convenient for patients and staff, as well as provide budget and space efficiencies.

The direction toward comfortable environments can also provide managers with added opportunities to combine aesthetics with function in order to maximize their budgets. As hospitals move away from outdated styles, facilities are increasingly emphasizing a softer, more residential aesthetic conducive to a healing, supportive environment. Patient rooms now take on the characteristics of home to help patients and their families feel more comfortable.

To this end, family and friends increasingly play an active role in patient care, often staying in the patient room for extended periods. As a result, sleepover furniture represents a growing category based on its ability to address both family participation and hospital space issues.

To accommodate patients and their guests, as well as make the best use of every square foot within patient rooms, planners increasingly seek multifunctional sleepover products, such as recliners/sleepers or day beds. When considering sleepover products, keep in mind that users will range widely in their ages and physical capabilities. Therefore, sleepover products, and any other patient room furniture intended for guest use, should be user-friendly and intuitive.

Certainly, patient room furniture has a critical role to play in creating a healing and supportive environment and ensuring space optimization, but it must also serve a function and fulfill a purpose. The list of such requirements continues to grow and includes changing demographics and emerging technology.

On the demographics side, more hospitals now require bariatrics furniture. Bariatric specifications may increase a manager’s overall furniture budget, depending on the type of products selected.

Technology needs in the patient room environment further influence furniture purchasing decisions. If charting is performed bedside, for example, an ideal work surface must be available, along with height-adjustable stools or other seating. For patients and family members, technology means that guest computers and other equipment will need to be accommodated through in-room desks or work surfaces.

Another important purchasing consideration is high-performance textiles that can help maintain sanitary conditions. Textiles in a hospital environment need to withstand the use of industrial-strength cleaning agents. The use of antimicrobial textiles may also help when furniture is cleaned properly.

Lobbies and waiting areas
Lobbies and waiting areas represent a hospital’s most visible areas. Accordingly, the furniture purchased for these spaces helps to establish the hospital’s image, as well as complements the healing, supportive environment of patient rooms and treatment areas.

When making furniture decisions for these key areas, facility managers should begin by determining capacity and turnover rates, while taking into account that waiting areas can inspire intimate gatherings of family members and loved ones. Consequently, guest traffic data must be carefully analyzed to determine the differences between peak, normal and low usage. How much furniture is required will depend on how many people occupy waiting areas during the three usage periods.

Deciding the types of furniture to include in waiting areas is also an important part of the equation. Waiting areas that accommodate people for extended periods of time can support a family- and patient-centered care philosophy by incorporating sleepover products. Sleepover solutions in a waiting area may be therapeutic for family members and lower stress and anxiety levels.

Another family-centered approach is to accommodate children. Tables and seating designed for children help them feel more welcome and comfortable in the hospital, as well as support learning and creativity. As in patient rooms, bariatrics has also become an important consideration in lobbies and waiting areas. When selecting bariatric furniture, it should complement the other pieces and not simply look like a “big chair.”

The choice of finish is equally important for furniture durability and will further impact life-cycle costs. For high-use lobby or waiting areas, metal finishes on furniture may be used as an alternative to wood. Furniture with metal finishes can hold up more effectively under rigorous, stressful conditions. However, wood may be preferred when striving for a more residential aesthetic. In addition to high-usage considerations, furniture must also withstand the regular use of cleaning agents.

Other facility spaces
Furniture in administrative areas plays a significant role in achieving employee productivity and promoting staff well being. Due to the different professions working throughout these areas and their various work preferences, needs and styles, facility managers may well be challenged to address a variety of furniture considerations. One common solution, however, is height-adjustable desk surfaces and other ergonomically friendly elements.

Height-adjustable desk surfaces allow workers to easily lower or raise the position of a work surface from the traditional 29-inch desk. They also support the trend toward a more flexible style of working, in which administrative staff can work while sitting or standing.

A number of options are also available to optimize space in administrative areas and create a flexible environment using systems furniture components. Adjustable privacy screens and panels, for example, can be attached to desk units to create configurations that support private or interactive workspaces. To keep the appearances of administrative workspaces clean and organized, power and data can be managed through modules or hardwiring under table surfaces.

Architectural or movable walls provide another level of flexibility. Comprised of several basic parts, architectural walls can be installed quickly with minimal disruption. Movable walls allow planners to quickly reconfigure a workspace based on changes in its use, the number of employees or other factors.

Furniture in cafeterias and food courts should be comfortable and durable, with finishes and fabrics that are easily cleaned. Likewise, lecture halls also serve multiple purposes and host various constituents within a hospital. This furniture must support a variety of uses. Seating considerations include ergonomic support, tablet arms to accommodate laptops and note taking, and the ability to place seats to form rows with adequate leg room.

Putting it together
The final part of overall planning and budgeting is the need to determine life expectancy rates for furniture in a hospital setting. This must take into account a wide variety of variables. Size of the facility, annual number of patients and complexity of usage are just a few of the factors that affect how long furniture will last, assuming new products are built to proper standards of durability.

When evaluating costs, the lowest price doesn’t necessarily equate to the best value or return on investment. For example, the use of certain finishes or fabrics may cost more up front, but over time will extend both the life and performance of the furniture.

When establishing a budget and evaluating furniture costs, consider the following points to help make the most prudent choices:

• Look for contracts with the facility’s major health care group purchasing organization, which offer pre-negotiated discounted pricing for members and frequently offer additional discounts for volume purchasing;
• Seek value-added services that streamline the purchasing process, such as standards programs, electronic sites for checking order and account status, online product support and a customer support help-line;
• Seek designers and vendors with demonstrated experience in the health care market;
• Insist on education and training of staff to ensure proper use of furniture;
• Select furniture that meets American National Standards Institute and Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer’s Association test standards;
• Consider visiting the manufacturer’s facility to see the product being made;
  Agree on a set service response time; and
• Never purchase furniture that doesn’t come with a manufacturer’s warranty.
  

Sound purchasing decisions
Furniture planning requires careful budgeting and a thorough understanding of the requirements for each area of the hospital.

Sound purchasing decisions are cost effective for the organization and beneficial to patients, families and staff.


Deborah J. Breunig, R.N., is vice president of the health care market for KI, Green Bay, Wis. She can be reached via e-mail at debbie.breunig at ki.com.

This article 1st appeared in the May 2007 issue of HFM Magazine.