Study on Ward Planning of Acute Hospitals from the Nurses’ Standpoint

In order to improve the functional layout of acute wards to cope with modern changes, this paper aims at examining the current nursing activities in two acute hospitals, and clarifying the requirements of ward planning from the nurses’ standpoint. As a first study, two nurses on day duty and all nurses on evening and night duties were followed and observed in every nursing unit. A second observation study was carried throughout the day duty (8:00am-5:00pm) on the same day of the following week. For this latter study, five observers were positioned in designated locations and recorded the time of entering and exiting of all the nurses to each room in the ward. A questionnaire and an interview survey were also carried out in order to obtain a better understanding of the nurses’ evaluation of the ward planning. As a result of this study, the following five items were highlighted: 1. The actual situation of the nursing activities was obtained. 2. The investigated data was compared with those obtained in previous studies. 3. The influential factors affecting nursing activities were discussed. 4. Design guidelines set up in the past were reconsidered. 5. Problems concerning the rooms’ layout were pointed out.