THE EFFECT OF WARD DESIGN ON THE WELL-BEING OF POSTOPERATIVE-PATIENTS

Changes in the design of hospital wards have usually been determined b y architects and members of the nursing and medical professions; the v iews and preferences of patients have seldom been sought directly, The Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale and the Disturbance Due to Hosp ital Noise questionnaire were administered to 64 female patients on ba y and Nightingale wards together with a questionnaire designed for thi s study. Perceptions of social and physical factors of ward design wer e examined, and their relationship to psychological well-being and sle ep patterns, The results show that the bay ward seemed to offer a more favourable environment for patients but some of the disadvantages of bay wards are balanced by better staffing levels and better and more m odern facilities, Visibility to nurses was lower on the bay ward. The Nightingale ward was perceived as significantly noisier than the bay w ard and noise levels were significantly correlated to anxiety scores. Paradoxically the increase in noise levels appeared to improve the per ceived level of privacy on the Nightingale ward, Seventy-five per cent of patients were found to prefer the bay ward design, and since neith er design appears to have major disadvantages their continued introduc tion should be encouraged. However, recommendations are made concernin g the optimizing of patients' well-being within the bay ward setting.