Study: Poor room layout can increase risk of patient death

Patients are more likely to die after surgery if they are placed in wards remote from the nurses' station with a poor view out the window. Researchers from the University of Michigan presented their findings at the annual meeting of the American College of Surgeons in San Diego, U.S. News reported.

The authors analyzed data from electronic medical records of four thousand patients who underwent one of 13 different types of high-risk surgical procedures, including kidney transplants or pancreatic or colorectal removal. Correlating them with hospital plans, the researchers found that the best rooms were single rooms and were close to, and viewable from, the nurses' station.

People in rooms that had none of these features were 50 percent more likely to die than those who were placed in rooms with all of these characteristics.

The study found that a double-occupancy room increased a patient's risk of dying after surgery during recovery by 35%, while people placed in rooms further away from the nurses' station had a 36% increased risk of death. Researchers were surprised to find that the nurses knew this, so they placed heavy patients in the better rooms.

The link between chances of survival and room location persisted even after the researchers took into account factors such as age, surgical procedure and the severity of the patient's illness before surgery, he said. The initial analysis showed that a window view could improve survival rates by 20 percent, but that advantage became smaller when the researchers accounted for the patient's age and health.

The scientists' work will help develop effective patient placement strategies as well as room plans in new hospitals.

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