Better World, Healthcare
November 12, 2010
By Susan Huls
Back in September, Herman Miller Healthcare announced the names of those selected for its 2010 scholarship program for intern architects.
As part of the scholarship program, the company will sponsor the attendance of nine individuals at this year’s Healthcare Design conference in Las Vegas, November 13-16.
I thought it would be fun to catch-up with the scholarship recipients before the conference to find out what interests them about healthcare design and architecture. And, because creating a better world is important to Herman Miller, I specifically asked them how they think healthcare design and architecture can contribute to a better world.
Check out their thoughts about the subject:
Ryan Cameron
Visions in Architecture, Lincoln, NE
It is in a designer’s best interest to provide value to healthcare architecture—value created with better design through increased collaboration, new techniques and time for reflection. Future designers will need all three if they are to create a better world.
Read more
Healthcare
October 27, 2010
By Doug Bazuin
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend the Design Research Conference hosted by the Interdisciplinary Design Institute of Washington State University.
I heard several presentations about the latest research surrounding architectural and environmental design for health care environments, but one story from a keynote speaker has stayed with me. It focused on how our total health goes beyond our physical health, and how biophelia—a love for the natural world—plays a large role in it.
Interior designer Barbara Huelat, with Huelat Parimucha Ltd., asked the audience to think about the last time they really felt alive and energized. She then asked us to raise our hands if that experience was in nature and about 90 percent of the hands went up. Mine did, too.
Biophilia is a familiar concept to me and Herman Miller Healthcare, but Huelat’s story is a powerful reminder of the restorative power of nature.
Healthcare
October 21, 2010
By Doug Bazuin
Because almost all of our Herman Miller Healthcare products are used by nurses, we believe it’s important to be aware of research that could affect their work.
As the largest segment of the healthcare workforce, nurses will continue to play a key role in overcoming challenges and fulfilling the promises of our rapidly changing healthcare system.
The latest research about the nursing comes from the Institute of Medicine in a report called The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health.
Four key recommendations emerged from the report:
• Nurses should practice to the full extent of their education and training.
• Nurses should achieve higher levels of education and training through an improved education system that promotes seamless academic progression.
• Nurses should be full partners, with physicians and other health professionals, in redesigning health care in the United States.
• Effective workforce planning and policy making require better data collection and an improved information infrastructure.
Judging by the number of healthcare media references, The Future of Nursing report has started an important conversation about the role of nurses in providing care.
This report will also inform our conversations with customers about environments such as patient rooms and unit cores and how they will support nurses in the future.
Design, Healthcare, Products
July 14, 2010
By Susan Huls
When Herman Miller Healthcare decided it was going to design the Compass system, a modular furnishings solution for the patient room, it went right to the source: the people who work in healthcare every day.
According to Doug Bazuin, senior researcher for Herman Miller Healthcare, the Compass design team interviewed more than 550 clinicians, administrators, facility managers, and healthcare architects and interior designers to determine what healthcare issues are most important to them. Four key concerns kept rising to the top:
1. Support changing technology
2. Improve nurse efficiency
3. Improve the family experience
4. Be healthcare appropriate
In this video, Bazuin discusses how this research was applied to the final product design.
Launched in June at NeoCon, the award-winning Compass system is ready to help healthcare professionals navigate change. That’s the benefit of going the source.
Design, What's Up
June 18, 2010
By Susan Huls
It’s back to business as usual at Chicago’s Merchandise Mart. From June 14-16, however, tens of thousands of architecture and design professionals, facility managers, and dealers and distributors traversed the halls and showrooms in the massive Mart, which spans two entire city blocks on the bank of the Chicago River.
After 42 years, NeoCon has developed into North America’s largest design exposition and conference for commercial interiors. It’s a time when exhibitors such as Herman Miller introduce new products and services for the workplace and discuss concepts behind future product introductions, including the eCoupled technology. Ask anyone from the office furniture industry about NeoCon and the response usually begins with an amenable smile followed by a description that includes a comparison to what the North American International Auto Show means to the North American auto industry.
And always popular with NeoCon exhibitors and attendees are the awards. It was a thrill to be recognized this year for our product designs and manufacturing practices. Our Healthcare division took home two prestigious awards, including the Large Showroom award in the IIDA Showroom and Booth Design Competition and a Best of NeoCon Gold in the Healthcare Furniture category for its new Compass system. In addition, the Flo monitor arm by Herman Miller company Colebrook Bosson Saunders received a Best of NeoCon Silver award in the Technology Support category and the OFDA presented us with the 2010 Manufacturer of the Year Gold award.
NeoCon also is a time for reconnecting with customers and friends, making new acquaintances, and demonstrating the qualities that differentiate us from others in our industry. Next year’s show already is on the calendar for June 13-15, and the increase in attendance this year indicates that it will remain a very popular event for this industry.
Healthcare
May 26, 2010
By Deb Gerber
Imagine the many changes in hospitals and patient care over the 39 years that I have been a registered nurse! Equally remarkable are the changes I’ve observed and experienced in nursing leadership, evolving from being a director in the mid-1980’s to “moving to the C Suite” in the 21st century.
As a director of nursing in the 1980’s, my role was limited to scheduling staff, staying within budget, having policies and procedures consistent with regulatory requirements, and supervision and direction of my direct-report head nurses. My role evolved over the years into that of leader, as did the role of most nurses in administration.
Leadership, so well outlined by Max De Pree in Leadership is an Art, is about relationships. Broad in scope and content, it involves the use of inspiration and influence to achieve a common goal, or shared purpose.
In the 21st century, the nursing leader, frequently titled Chief Nursing Officer, or CNO, inspires and influences the culture of nursing and the quality of patient care in the organization or system. He/she manages a highly complex environment and has a broad scope of responsibility and accountability for patient care departments, clinical quality, and patient and staff satisfaction. According to the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE), nurse leaders “design, facilitate, and manage care.”
Given the breadth and depth of their leadership skills, knowledge, and experience, nurse leaders are in the best possible position to inspire and influence the delivery of care across the full healthcare continuum—never forgetting that their most important relationships are with the patients and families they serve.
Healthcare
May 19, 2010
By Marcia Davis
The American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE)—a national organization of nurses who design, facilitate, and manage care—has been established since 1967, just a few years longer than Herman Miller Healthcare. And the organization has a similar focus: advocacy and research to advance nursing practice and patient care. Which is why Herman Miller for Healthcare had a presence at the AONE 43rd Annual Meeting and Exposition last month.
Our healthcare experts—many of whom are registered nurse managers with clinical and administrative experience—work to help our customers increase the quality and performance of healthcare facilities. They understand the complex relationships in healthcare delivery systems—from patient care to code compliance, from staff retention to construction planning. Together with our product offering, they translate their expertise into workable solutions.
The AONE conference was the perfect opportunity for Herman Miller Healthcare to help fulfill the vision of AONE: “Shaping the future of health care through innovative nursing leadership.” Our experts gleaned knowledge from the CEUs and networking opportunities, while our booth displayed a range of product solutions from our family of healthcare brands to help make the workplace better for nurses and facilitate patient care:
Nemschoff—Brava glider and Brava patient and lounge chair; Serenity III Treatment chair with heat and massage feature; SleepOver bench
Brandrud—Centé and Nala patient chairs
Herman Miller Healthcare—Aeron stool, Decentralized Caregiver Workstation, Mobile Technology Carts and Procedure/Supply Carts
Healthcare
May 12, 2010
By Doug Bazuin
Today is the birthday of Florence Nightingale. It’s also the last day of National Nurses Week. It seems like an appropriate opportunity to highlight the dedication and hard work of the nursing profession.
I recently had the opportunity to spend a week shadowing nurses in a hospital emergency department (ED) as part of a pre- and post-occupancy study Herman Miller Healthcare is conducting to compare the hospital’s existing facility to a new space that will be ready later this year.
It was a privilege and a humbling experience to spend 50 hours with the ED nurses. I expected the nurses to be caring and professional to all patients but I did not fully appreciate the difficult and stressful conditions under which ED nurses must maintain their professionalism. The tremendous respect I have for them and other health professionals has only grown.
Everyone who came through the door was treated with equality and received the same quality of care, whether it was someone with a sore throat who should not have been in the ED, or a frequent visitor to the ED hoping for a few pain relievers, or a chest pain sufferer who needed immediate attention. Large or small, frivolous or urgent, everyone was respected and cared for. The nurses certainly were frustrated with patients or worn down by a busy day in the ED but I never saw this come out during an interaction with the patient.
Thanks to all the nurses for their dedication to their patients. And special thanks to the nurses that allowed me to spend time with them. Florence Nightingale would be proud.
Healthcare
May 7, 2010
By Chris Hoyt
Here at Herman Miller, we’ve been studying the needs of healthcare professionals for over 40 years. It is our goal to create products that can reduce some of the stress and burdens that these professionals, such as nurses, face on a daily basis.
In addition to the healthcare research I do at Herman Miller, I’m familiar with these issues outside of work because my wife, Lindsay, has been a nurse for four years. Since we’re in the midst of National Nurses Week (May 6 through 12), I would like to share some insights about life in the nursing profession.
Nursing is often a thankless job that requires massive amounts of dedication, commitment, patience, and skill. While I work a standard Monday through Friday 8-5 job, my wife works any day of the week (including weekends), 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. I get major holidays off; she gets two of the four major holidays off, and it changes every year. I sit in front of a computer most of the day; she stands, walks, lifts, tucks, charts, cleans, dispenses meds, and starts IVs. And that’s not all. Besides these demanding physical tasks, nurses tackle the emotional challenges of dealing with sick patients and their families. They need to display quick and critical thinking from their library of knowledge to make life-saving decisions for their patients. They deal with the complexities of relationships and collaborate with multiple members of an interdisciplinary healthcare team. Ultimately, they focus on helping people heal.
At Herman Miller, we aim to alleviate their burden and simplify nurses’ tasks by providing them with easy access to supplies and ergonomic solutions in the healthcare environment. That allows nurses to direct 100% of their focus on the patient rather than dealing with insufficient equipment and processes.
This year’s theme for National Nurses Week is “Caring Today for a Healthier Tomorrow.” Thanks to my wife and all the nurses—retired and practicing—I can look forward to a healthier tomorrow.
Design, Healthcare, Products, What's Up
March 23, 2010
By Randall Braaksma
Healthcare. It’s a topic that’s vital to all of us. But some lose track of the fact that healthcare almost always gets delivered in a facility—hospital, clinic, doctor’s office. The recent 2010 ASHE-PDC International Summit on Health Facility Planning, Design and Construction in San Diego put the focus on the places where healthcare happens. As you can imagine, there was a lot to hear and see.
As to hearing, there was a lineup of buzz-worthy keynote and plenary speakers. They included former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and former Air Force fighter pilot Brian Shul, whose aircraft was shot down over Vietnam. They, and CEO of the American Hospital Association Richard J. Umbdenstock, tackled issues related to navigating healthcare transformation and how to respond to them.
As to seeing, a big highlight was the Gallery of Architecture for Health. It showcased cutting-edge healthcare design trends from over 200 exhibitors from around the country. Front and center in the exhibit hall, Herman Miller Healthcare displayed a range of product solutions from our family of healthcare brands:
Nemschoff—Brooklyn Lounge and Patient Chair, Bedford Casegoods, Sleepover Bench and Serenity III Treatment Chair
Brandrud—Centé and Nala Patient Chairs
Herman Miller Healthcare—Aeron Stool, Decentralized Caregiver Workstation, Mobile Technology and Procedure/Supply Carts
If you missed the Summit, you can get a look at many of these products next month at the AONE Annual Meeting and Exposition in Indianapolis, IN.