What floor do they have in hospitals?
When thinking about the best hospital flooring, it is important to consider the best choices for each area of the hospital. There is no one flooring that can serve the entire hospital and some flooring materials are best suited to certain areas more than others.
For example, at the entrance, you will want flooring with good aesthetics but that can also stand up to heavy foot traffic. Luxury vinyl may be a great option but for the corridors, you may want to opt for rubber flooring as it muffles sound, is durable, easy on the feet, and requires little maintenance.
At the entrance, you want flooring that immediately sends a message of cleanliness, reassurance, calm, and professionalism. Some other details about flooring in hospitals that you need to consider include the following notes.
Ease of installation:
Hospitals are complex large institutions and can be busy at all hours of the day and night. Therefore, you do not want to close an entire hospital room floor or department frequently to undertake maintenance, repairs, or installation. You want the best hospital flooring that is relatively easy to install without compromising the hospital function for too long.
Budget:
Flooring for an entire hospital can be prohibitively expensive; therefore, it is important to have a budget. Some flooring materials are more expensive than others. Affordable flooring materials include luxury vinyl tiles, vinyl sheets, and rubber sheets.
Slip Resistance:
Because many patients in hospitals have difficulty walking, it is important to select hospital room flooring that is stable and textured so that it helps prevent people from falling and slipping. Plus, when installing the best hospital flooring, it is important to ensure that the edges are smooth and that there is no height difference, or it is possible that some may trip. Finally, liquid spills are very common hospital room flooring must have anti-slip properties.
Cushioning:
In addition to slip-resistant flooring, it is important to ensure that the material has some degree of cushioning or softness in case someone falls. Patients in hospitals are often debilitated, weak, and/or have poor gait, and the risk of a fall is very high. Therefore, flooring with good cushioning can help prevent serious injury. Flooring that is cushioned can also make it comfortable to walk on and can prevent leg tiredness and fatigue for doctors, nurses, and hospital staff.
Antimicrobial:
There is one unique feature about hospital room flooring that has to be a priority. The flooring that is selected should be resistant to the growth of organisms or bacteria. The flooring should be easy to clean so that all dirt, debris, and other liquids can be wiped up right away, with little-to-no chance of bacteria accumulating.
Recommended and the most common hospital room flooring includes the following.
For hospital entrances, waiting rooms, and lobbies, luxury vinyl tile is an excellent choice and perhaps the best hospital flooring. The majority of patients, families, and visitors usually see the entrance when they visit the hospital. First impressions do count. Entrance areas are usually associated with heavy foot and wheel traffic (wheelchairs and walkers). Here you preferably want flooring that is not only aesthetic but durable, welcoming and creates a strong first impression.
Luxury vinyl tiles are a great option for the entrance. They are available in many designs to match the decor of the rest of the hospital. Luxury vinyl tiles can tolerate heavy foot and wheel traffic. In addition, luxury vinyl is waterproof, and this is important as patients and visitors may sometimes walk in with wet shoes, depending on the weather conditions or their situations.
For emergency rooms, patient rooms, and nurses’ stations, sheet vinyl has proven to be resilient and a solid choice for the healthcare environment. It is recommended that when sheet vinyl is installed in a hospital, it is heat-welded with flash coving to seal each seam evenly. This process reduces the chances that liquids, spills, or bacteria would get caught and remain in the flooring.
Hospital corridors are the main arteries to the different departments and typically see heavy use. Besides foot traffic, there is traffic from rolling loads, like medication carts, equipment carts, stretchers, and wheelchairs. Because of these features, the flooring selected has to be durable, comfortable on the feet, and easy to clean. Nothing beats rubber flooring for corridors. Rubber flooring has excellent properties that include:
Muffles sound
Durable
Available in light colors, which can brighten the surrounding area
Comfortable on the feet
Can help cushion patient falls and minimize injury
Easy to clean
Hypoallergenic
Will not scratch or dent easily, and if compressed by heavy loads, it has excellent elasticity to revert to its original form and shape
Rubber flooring can help promote healing and it encourages patients to walk as it is comfortable
Can be demarcated to highlight the path so people know where to walk
Is relatively easy to install
Is water-resistant
Both rubber flooring and sheet vinyl flooring are recommended in emergency rooms and operating areas. These two areas of the hospital have to not only be functional and easy on the feet, but the flooring should minimize dirt accumulation and prevent organisms from growing. Both the emergency room and operating areas are always busy with heavy foot and roller traffic; therefore, you want something durable, slip-resistant, and can be quickly cleaned.
Conclusion
Most hospitals select either rubber or luxury vinyl as their flooring of choice for the best hospital flooring. Both these materials have many beneficial properties. For answers to your questions or to learn more about the options available for hospital flooring, contact an experienced representative at East Coast Flooring & Interiors at 1-954-379-8161.
The main difference between an ICU and a regular hospital floor (also sometimes known as Medical/Surgical) is the level of care provided. Nurses and other care practitioners in the medical/surgical field are widely trained across a variety of diseases and illnesses—after all, they deal with all sorts of conditions that require hospitalizations, including recovery from surgery, infectious diseases, and other sensitive conditions. While all nursing specialties require the same basic skill set, medical/surgical nurses must be familiar with a wide-ranging possibility of illnesses and sicknesses, and be familiar with every body system in order to accurately treat and care for patients. They also see more patients on a daily basis, and therefore have a hand in the care of patients with all different types of diseases and conditions, and must make treatment plans in partnership with physicians based on a patients’ specific needs. Medical/surgical nursing is the largest nursing specialty in the United States.
Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nurses, sometimes known as critical care nurses, deal specifically with patients who have life-threatening health problems or are in immediate recovery from major surgeries, such as open-heart surgery. The ICU offers critical care to patients with severe illnesses and injuries which require close and constant monitoring. Patients in the ICU may include individuals in treatment for serious injuries, those undergoing treatment for grave medical conditions, or patients in recovery from major surgery.
While medical/surgical units have monitoring equipment for patient care, ICU units have quite a bit more monitoring to do. IV tubes, feeding tubes, catheters and breathing machines are just among the few machines that you’ll find on an ICU floor. Procedures may be completed by ICU nurses that medical/surgical nurses are not trained to do, such as insert a central line in a patient, insert a chest tube, and operate a ventilator. ICU nurses are necessary for complex patient cases where a high level of assessment is needed.
At first glance, the two types of treatment can seem interchangeable. It’s true that any licensed nursing professional can assist during an emergency situation, but ICU (sometimes called critical care) nurses and floors are utilized because they offer the highest level of complexity of care. The patient’s life cannot be sustained without interventions from the staff on that floor. Medical/surgical patients, on the other hand, require a high level of care and remain time-sensitive, but do not need as many medical interventions. Patients generally spend a shorter amount of time on medical/surgical units, and a longer amount of time on intensive care units depending on the medical condition.
The American Association of Critical Care Nurses certifies and represents the interest of more than half a million critical care nurses in the United States. They are supposed to provide “intense and vigilant” nursing care to all patients in their care. They must assess the patient, (collect date regarding their health,) diagnose the patient (determine the underlying issue), identify recovery outcomes, define a plan of treatment (often in partnership with a physician), implement that plan (coordinate the care for the patient) and evaluate the effectiveness of that care (seeing if the patient responds to treatment or improves.)
Medical/Surgical nurses are just as educated as critical care nurses, but they do not hold the certification from the AACCN. They provide state of the art clinical care to patients in a normalized hospital setting. At OakBend, we encourage patients to be ambulatory, meaning they get up and around during the day instead of staying laid down in their hospital bed. Patients are encouraged to walk around the floor, socialize with other patients, and participate in social activities that are hosted by the medical/surgical front desk nursing staff. Our Jack and Billie Wendt Acute Care for the Elderly Unit embodies these principles and focuses on complete care of our patient, including meeting their physical, social, emotional and spiritual needs. We bring these concepts to all of our medical/surgical units throughout the hospital.
The care patients receive, whether in the ICU or on a regular hospital floor, will always be tailored to the patient and focused on what that specific patient needs to heal. The qualified nurses and staff will make it their top priority to provide you with care that is appropriate for the diagnosis, and make patients as comfortable as possible in the process.
Dr. Jose Anzaldua
OakBend Medical Group
Disclaimer: The contents of this article, including text and images, are for informational purposes only and do not constitute a medical service. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health professional for medical advice, diagnosis, and treatment.
Sources:
https://www.bsnedu.org/critical-care/
https://medlineplus.gov/criticalcare.html
https://www.amsn.org/practice-resources/what-medical-surgical-nursing