In her role as director of Rush’s Office of Transformation, Rush alumna and nurse Eileen Dwyer, MS, RN, has helped to direct the planning, design, development and construction of Rush’s new Tower hospital facility, opening to patients this January. News & Views spoke with Dwyer about the critical role Rush’s nurses have played in designing this one-of-a-kind new building.
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Eileen Dwyer, MS, RN (Rush MS 1991) |
News & Views: Where do we see nurses’ input in Rush’s new Tower? Dwyer: The biggest visible impact of nurses’ input is the actual shape of the Herb Family Acute and Critical Care Tower, floors 10 through 14 of the Tower. Our nurses said they need to be as close to the patient as possible, and they need quick and easy access to the supplies they use most. The result was a butterfly-shaped bed tower, comprising four triangle-shaped units on each floor, with a staff work station at the center of each unit and access to supplies located in the tip of each of these units. All of these decisions were driven by clinical staff telling us what they need to do their jobs most effectively. |
News & Views: What value have nurses added to the planning process?
Dwyer: Nurses were critical to the design of Rush’s new Tower because of their keen understanding of clinician work flow, patient safety, and the patient and family experience.
For example, we plan to put kidney dialysis hookups in every critical care patient room, but when clinicians toured a mockup of the patient rooms, they demonstrated that the hookups were located too low to the ground to be convenient. They were absolutely right, and they saved us from making a very costly mistake. They’ve provided input on everything from infection control around sinks to the best way to transport newborns from the delivery room to the NICU.
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News & Views: Are many hospitals incorporating the nursing perspective in their design? |
Rush's new Tower hospital opens January 2012. |
Dwyer: More and more hospitals and medical centers are turning to their clinicians for input. Last year, I was involved in a pilot program that the Joint Commission Resources and health care furniture design company Herman Miller organized to teach health care professionals about the design and building process, which is great. That kind of input can only lead to better care, more effective work flow for the clinical staff and an improved experience for patients and families.
