Cargando…
A Qualitative Study of Hospital Interior Environments during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Human beings have encountered different infectious diseases. However, there is not much validated data available on the physical environments of hospitals when responding to highly contagious viruses, such as COVID-19. This study was conducted to assess the physical environments of hospitals during...
Autor principal: | |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2023
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9967306/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36833965 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20043271 |
_version_ | 1784897231699050496 |
---|---|
author | Bae, Suyeon |
author_facet | Bae, Suyeon |
author_sort | Bae, Suyeon |
collection | PubMed |
description | Human beings have encountered different infectious diseases. However, there is not much validated data available on the physical environments of hospitals when responding to highly contagious viruses, such as COVID-19. This study was conducted to assess the physical environments of hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic. There exists a need to analyze whether the physical environments of hospitals were conducive or obstructive to medical practice during the pandemic. A total of forty-six staff working in intensive care units, progressive care units, and emergency rooms were invited to participate in a semi-structured interview. Out of this group, fifteen staff members participated in the interview. They were asked to list the changes made to the hospital’s physical environment during the pandemic, which included equipping the hospital environment for medical practice and protecting staff from becoming infected. They were also asked about desirable improvements that they believe could increase their productivity and ensure safety. The results indicated the difficulty in isolating COVID-19 patients and converting a single occupancy room into a double occupancy room. Isolating COVID-19 patients made it easier for staff to care for the patients, but it made them feel isolated and at the same time increased the walking distance. Signs indicating a COVID area helped them to prepare for medical practices ahead of time. Glass doors provided greater visibility and enabled them to monitor the patients. However, the dividers installed at nursing stations were obstructive. This study suggests that further research should be conducted once the pandemic is over. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-9967306 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-99673062023-02-26 A Qualitative Study of Hospital Interior Environments during the COVID-19 Pandemic Bae, Suyeon Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Human beings have encountered different infectious diseases. However, there is not much validated data available on the physical environments of hospitals when responding to highly contagious viruses, such as COVID-19. This study was conducted to assess the physical environments of hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic. There exists a need to analyze whether the physical environments of hospitals were conducive or obstructive to medical practice during the pandemic. A total of forty-six staff working in intensive care units, progressive care units, and emergency rooms were invited to participate in a semi-structured interview. Out of this group, fifteen staff members participated in the interview. They were asked to list the changes made to the hospital’s physical environment during the pandemic, which included equipping the hospital environment for medical practice and protecting staff from becoming infected. They were also asked about desirable improvements that they believe could increase their productivity and ensure safety. The results indicated the difficulty in isolating COVID-19 patients and converting a single occupancy room into a double occupancy room. Isolating COVID-19 patients made it easier for staff to care for the patients, but it made them feel isolated and at the same time increased the walking distance. Signs indicating a COVID area helped them to prepare for medical practices ahead of time. Glass doors provided greater visibility and enabled them to monitor the patients. However, the dividers installed at nursing stations were obstructive. This study suggests that further research should be conducted once the pandemic is over. MDPI 2023-02-13 /pmc/articles/PMC9967306/ /pubmed/36833965 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20043271 Text en © 2023 by the author. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Bae, Suyeon A Qualitative Study of Hospital Interior Environments during the COVID-19 Pandemic |
title | A Qualitative Study of Hospital Interior Environments during the COVID-19 Pandemic |
title_full | A Qualitative Study of Hospital Interior Environments during the COVID-19 Pandemic |
title_fullStr | A Qualitative Study of Hospital Interior Environments during the COVID-19 Pandemic |
title_full_unstemmed | A Qualitative Study of Hospital Interior Environments during the COVID-19 Pandemic |
title_short | A Qualitative Study of Hospital Interior Environments during the COVID-19 Pandemic |
title_sort | qualitative study of hospital interior environments during the covid-19 pandemic |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9967306/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36833965 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20043271 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT baesuyeon aqualitativestudyofhospitalinteriorenvironmentsduringthecovid19pandemic AT baesuyeon qualitativestudyofhospitalinteriorenvironmentsduringthecovid19pandemic |