Designing hospitals that promote well-being of employees can help address workforce challenges such as burnout and turnover among staff, Harvard Business Review reported June 14.
Here are three lessons about how employers can support staff through hospital design, according to Joan Saba, managing partner at NBBJ, an architecture and design firm; Ryan Hullinger, partner and global healthcare practice leader at NBBJ; and Thomas McCoy, MD, a psychiatrist at Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital, where he is director of research at the Center for Quantitative Health and platform director at the Center for Innovation in Digital Health Care:
1. Employers should ensure a building's identity considers employee mental health. This means creating abundant access to daylight as well as intentionally quiet patient floors and safer working conditions.
2. Reducing stress is also a crucial part of promoting employee well-being, the NBBJ staff said. Design features that reduce the amount of time hospital workers spend traveling between areas where they recharge and areas where they see patients can help.
3. Use design features that invest in the longevity of employees and their well-being. Examples include private patios for staff, satellite food lockers and mobile ordering apps.
To read the full Harvard Business Review article, click here.