Barriers to Infection Control due to Hospital Patient Room Factors

Abstract

Infection control is of central importance when designing hospital rooms, particularly to reduce hospital-acquired infections. Existing room design standards include private rooms, toilets, and showers, ample space between a patient’s bed and a family member’s bed, and separate spaces for clean and dirty nursing activities. We investigated various hospital room factors that make it challenging for staff to reduce hospital-acquired infections. Focus groups and interviews were conducted with multiple stakeholder groups as part of a larger research effort to generate guidelines for hospital room design. Transcripts were generated for eight of these stakeholder groups, including housekeeping staff, and qualitatively analyzed for emerging themes. The insights suggest additional areas for consideration during the design of hospital rooms, in particular the need for standardized, dedicated locations for supplies brought into the patient room and inclusion of the perspective of housekeeping staff in the design process.