Directions

• Critically analyze the discussion post down below identifying both the strengths and weaknesses.

Requirement

• Please support critique with references provided below

Discussion Post

In 2006, after years of research, Arnold Palmer Hospital expanded services into a new 273 bed facility across the street from its' existing facility. The new facility focused on circular floor design and innovative layout to better service its' customers and staff. Utilizing the intentional design, the hospital saw many metrics improve for both audiences and the design was met with great success.

Servicescapes, by definition, are spaces designed to optimize service or can be a physical environment where service can take place (Bhasin, 2019). Arnold Palmer integrated this concept into the new layout in droves, but one highlight discussed in the video is with their neo-natal unit (Heizer et al., 2019). Heizer et al. (2019) expands, initially the unit had 7 different rooms with 10 - 16 patients per room and the rooms were loud, had little privacy, and were very bright with lights. The hospital tested a pilot with rubber flooring, window treatments, and privacy curtains (Heizer et al., 2019). The result is that the patients spent less time in the unit overall, less time on a ventilator, and grew faster. The quiet environment and privacy allowed the patients to heal better but also allowed the staff to provide better service through the environment.

An additional area that servicescape design was implemented is the hospital moving to pod-like or circular structure. Reducing the walking time nurses spent between rooms and allowed complimentary services such as food or linen delivery to happen much quicker. On average a nurse optimized her time by 20% and the farthest room is just above 100 feet away from the nurse's station. (Heizer et al., 2019).

As healthcare technology evolves, so are the considerations when designing a new facility or upgrading a current one. It is now a reality that hospital staff can go room to room with a cart and a computer that can access the patient's information and treatment plan. Thankfully, taking a servicescape forward approach has already helped in some of the instances where a facility would need to be modified. For example, a nurse rolling around a cart no longer needs to walk as far to access all the patients. The largest change a hospital would need to make to the environment is to ensure equipment and data security. For example, making sure nurses know to lock their stations when not in use.

References

Bhasin, H. (2019, October 18). Servicescape: Meaning, Examples, Elements, Approach, and Roles. Marketing91. Retrieved November 9, 2021, from https://www.marketing91.com/servicescape/

Heizer, J., Render, B., & Munson, C. (2019). Operations Management: Sustainability and Supply Chain Management (13th ed.) [E-book]. Pearson.