NIHD members firmly believe that design matters and can make a difference for frontline staff and patients.
A recent article published by Forbes titled “Four Ideas To Improve Hospital Work Environments To Help Combat America’s Nursing Crisis” discusses considerations when designing for staff efficiency within a healthcare space. NIHD Member Teri Oelrich BSN, MBA, contributed to the article alongside her colleague Bryan Langlands AIA, FACHA.
As a nurse in architecture, Oelrich may not have the ability to influence policy on nursing ratio’s to patients or staffing decisions. However, she does have the ability to influence the design in clinical spaces to support the caregiver. During this time of frontline burnout, NBBJ’s Teri Oelrich and Bryan Langlands wanted to provide some simple solutions to support the frontline on the unit.
According to neuroscience research, our brains need a break every 90 minutes. Just 10 minutes in a respite environment can improve cognitive thinking. This needs to happen on the unit; caregivers do not have the time or the will to leave the unit when caring for patients.
Teri Oelrich, BSN, MBA, NIHD Member & Fellow
Meet article contributor Teri Oelrich, BSN, MBA, NIHD Member & Fellow.
Teri Oelrich BSN, MBA is a Partner with NBBJ, leading the Analytics and Consulting group. She has a clinical background in nursing, working in a variety of settings, including medical-surgical units and adult and pediatric intensive care units. She also holds an MBA, and coupled with her operational knowledge, she brings a valuable mix of clinical and business acumen to healthcare projects. Teri works closely with NBBJ’s medical planners and LEAN consultants to “right size” projects based on a rigorous analysis of both historical data across healthcare systems and the client-specific data. She uses the data analysis process to assist clients with determining what they need to meet projected clinical case volumes as opposed to what they want based purely on their intuition or guesses. This process of using analytics to drive planning and design is increasing important in the current data-driven healthcare industry. This rigorous process also means precious space is right sized to meet clinical as well as staff needs.