Next generation nurse station

Traditionally the nurse station has served many roles. Perhaps its most important has been the storage of patient charts. Physicians, nurses and case workers go to the nurse station first when looking for information. With the advent of electronic medical records (EMRs), however, this function is diminished. This does not eliminate the need for a nurse station, but does present new opportunities for its design. Working with a leading healthcare architectural firm, the emerging role and function of the nurse station is explored. Field research is helping identify social, cognitive and informational roles, leading to a new conceptualization of the environment. Renderings, models and full scale mock-ups will be utilized to conduct end user evaluation.

Collaborators: Methodist Healthcare, TRO Architects