3 6 S U P P L E M E N T T O O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E M A R C H 2 0 1 7
creative setup prevents
patients from having to
make their way down a
seemingly endless
straight-line hallway to
the end of the line where
they'll find prep/PACU
room #36.
Providers from numer-
ous disciplines who con-
verge on pre- and post-op areas often need to enter clinical data, so the facility's
designers installed a pair of computer terminals in each pre/PACU space, a nice-
ly appointed workspace just outside the avenues of rooms and touchdown
workstations throughout the area. The computer stations and work areas are
relatively minor design features that address the needs of an efficiency-minded
staff.
Room for improvement
It's counterintuitive, but standardized OR setups actually allow for greater flexi-
bility, says Jennifer Nussbaum, an architect and planner at Freeman White, a
healthcare design firm in Charlotte, N.C. "If every room has identical equipment
arranged the same way, each room can be easily manipulated for any type of
procedure," she explains.
Ms. Nussbaum works with her clients to "zone out" OR spaces based on
where the surgeon will stand, where the sterile field will be located, where
clean and dirty instruments will be kept, and how staff members will move
around the room, in order to determine the most effective way to lay out the
table and surrounding equipment.
Ms. Muniz agrees that standardized OR setups let staff turn over and set up
rooms quickly, because the location of equipment and supplies becomes second
• EVERY LAST DETAIL Every aspect of facility design, down to the location of the scrub
sinks, should streamline perioperative care.
Aerial Innovations of TN & KY
