A Nurse’s Journey to Transform Healthcare Spaces: Learning to Advocate for Safe, Efficient, and Wellness-Promoting Spaces.

Blog contribution by Annette Roehl M.Arch, MUP, BSN-RN, CCRN, CHSE, EDAC, MHFA, Healthcare Facilities Design Strategist @ Froedtert ThedaCare Health

From a young age, I was fascinated by architecture and design, though I didn’t fully understand just how important design could be until I was working as a nursing assistant at UW Hospital. One moment stands out in my memory: I was assisting a patient using a walker, trying to turn them around in a cramped, triangle-shaped bathroom. There I was, holding a gait belt in one hand, pushing an IV pole with the other, in a space far too small for comfort. In that moment, I thought, just like many of my colleagues at NIHD, "Who designed this?"

That simple question sparked a curiosity within me, igniting a journey to explore how the design of the built environment—particularly in healthcare—can either support or hinder the essential work we do as caregivers. I realized then that architecture isn't just about aesthetics or function; it can profoundly impact patient outcomes, efficiency, and overall wellness.

Over the next 20 years, as I continued working in nursing, I kept my eyes open to the design of healthcare spaces and talked to so many colleagues, patients, and family members. Every space became a place to notice:

What’s working here? What’s not? How could things be better? It was in these everyday moments that I began to see the clear link between the spaces we work in and the outcomes we deliver.

My time in Seattle provided me with an opportunity to deepen this understanding. As a simulationist, I joined a team focused on creating high-fidelity simulations for clinical teams. Together, we simulated complex medical events to help professionals practice teamwork in stressful care scenarios. We also designed simulations to inform the design of healthcare environments. We studied patient rooms, operating rooms, emergency departments, catheterization labs, and post-anesthesia care units. By simulation in real care environments and  mock-up rooms, we helped bridge communication gaps between designers and healthcare providers, ensuring that design decisions were informed by the realities of clinical work.  

And then COVID. Pulled back to the bedside, where I knew I’d feel less helpless.  I was challenged and inspired everyday by colleagues who were enabled and empowered, by regulatory waivers, to do whatever it took to care for people.  It was a time of rapid cycle process improvement, that I have mixed-feelings about wishing for it to ever happen again in my lifetime.

Now, as a Healthcare Facilities Design Strategist at Froedtert ThedaCare Health, I am incredibly fortunate to combine my passion for healthcare with my academic background in Architecture and Urban Planning. I have the privilege of advocating for spaces that prioritize safety, efficiency, and wellness—ensuring that both patients, families, and healthcare teams have environments that support their needs. As a representative of the Nursing Institute for Healthcare Design on the Health Guidelines Revision Committee for the Facilities Guidelines Institute (FGI), I am one of the clinical perspectives among a remarkable group of healthcare environment professionals in the industries of design, construction, and regulation who are passionate in the development of healthcare design standards, helping to shape the spaces where care is delivered.

In addition, I am honored to collaborate with the Sextant Foundation in their Reimagining Workshops, a platform for generating new ideas that will shape the future of healthcare environments. Together with organizations like AORN, SCCM, the Gravens Conference, and many others, the workshops explore innovative approaches to improve the spaces where healthcare happens. 

This journey has been nothing short of a dream realized. Every step, every experience, has brought me closer to my professional mission: to create environments that empower healthcare providers and patients alike. As I look toward the future, I am filled with excitement and gratitude for the incredible professionals I’ve had the privilege to work with, and the endless possibilities ahead to shape the healthcare spaces of tomorrow.  And I can’t wait for more clinicians to join us in this exciting work. 😊

NIHD collaborates with clinicians, design professionals and industry partners in the healthcare design process to shape the future of healthcare design.