Health Facility Evaluation for Design Practitioners, Mardelle McCuskey Shepley, editor, 2011, Myersville, MD. Asclepion Publishing, Softcover, 258 pages, available for $99.95 and can be ordered from The Center for Health Design Online Store at http://store.healthdesign.org/
Asclepion, the publishing company, comes from ancient Greece and Rome, an asclepeion (or asklepieion, Greek:
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in Doric dialect, Latin aesculapium) was a healing temple, sacred to the God Asclepius (Wikipedia, wikipedia.org/wiki/Asclepeion accessed April 4, 2011). Healing appears to be guiding principle that the publisher, design professionals, and nurses have in common.
Although this book was not written precisely for clinical leaders, the purpose is sharing with design professionals how to evaluate places for healing, be it a hospice, a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), or a hospital. Nurse executives, leaders, and researchers assigned to architectural/facility design teams would be interested in not only the evidence-based approach to design but also how professional design practitioners see health facilities. The cover of the book is a design of a NICU with the nurses' station highlighted in yellow. Clearly, both clinicians and design professionals need to work together.
The 20 contributors to the book represent architects, psychologists, and interior designers, with multiple subspecialties of research from designing places for Alzheimer to studying factors that discourage patients and families from visiting gardens and outdoor spaces. I asked a graduate student at a prominent school of architecture if the author/editor was recognized in the field and indeed, he was doing a project designing a hospital in Afghanistan and recognized the editor who was at another prominent school. Although this particular book does not have an RN contributor, a related journal, Health Environments Research & Design Journal, has a nurse executive, Jaynelle Stichler, as coeditor with 2 noted nurse researchers, Gerri Lamb, PhD, RN, FAAN and Joyce Verran, PhD, RN, FAAN, on the advisory board. The publisher recognizes the integral role nurse leaders play in creating not only healing environments but also good and efficient work environments for practitioners. Having reviewed many books "for nurses," some books can be helpful for multiple groups.
The book is divided into 3 parts and 18 chapters: Evaluation in Context, Evaluation in Action, and Conclusion to bring all the parts together. Appendix A, "Sample Literature Review," summarizes recent evaluations. Appendix B, "Practitioner-Focused Facility Evaluation Survey Format," is an example of a simple form. Appendix C is a "Glossary of Research Terms (p241)." The research parts would be redundant for nurse researchers already familiar with the institutional review board (IRB), writing proposals, and grants but not to the design professionals. However, how the design professionals approach evaluation should be of interest to all nurses.
I would find this book helpful if I were asked to work with these professionals in any capacity. It seems most hospitals are designing, redesigning, or planning a redesign. Minimally, the book gives the reader questions to ask when choosing or working with a professional design team. Who are these design professionals being invited to help our facility? How do they approach facility evaluation design? What are their special areas of interest or research? What level of complexity thinking with the multiple variables of design do they bring to the table? Do they think of things we do not? How do they view and work with nurses and physicians? How do they view patient-centered care?
What is particularly reassuring is the methodology recommended in this book is scholarly, evidence based, and way beyond creating a pretty entrance to the hospital. It reminds us of the wonderful diversity nursing has and offers another avenue of study and practice.
-Elizabeth (Betty) Falter, RN, MS, NEA-BC
President, Falter & Associates Inc, Tucson, Arizona