Efficient Design of Nursing Unit Floors

Abstract

Hospital designs aim to obtain the lowest possible construction, maintenance and operational costs together with patient satisfaction, comfort and privacy. To satisfy these needs, the efficient design of nursing unit areas becomes considerably important. This study was thus conducted to analyze planimetric design efficiency of nursing unit floors by defining certain floor areas and floor area ratios. To test existing nursing unit floors, quantitative assessments were noted in regard to their planimetric efficiency: the utility value of the built floor area, both in terms of its allocation to patient space (served), support (serving) and circulation space and the relative proportions of these. Results were presented in a comparative table. Of the 15 hospital floor plans analyzed, five satisfied minimum space requirements for patient areas, while another five were in the optimum range for circulation areas. Two were defined as the least efficient, having the lowest patient-to-circulation area ratio.