Rethinking Patient Room Design in Clinical Settings: Coronary Care Unit Patient Room

Institutional settings should be designed to prioritize the comfort of patients, healthcare providers, and visitors. Design elements need to support the human experience. This Coronary Care Unit (CCU) Patient Room explores how design elements can fully support users; focusing on Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, MA. Located in Southeastern Massachusetts, Charlton Memorial Hospital is a local leader in cardiovascular care. Being able to spend time at Charlton for observational and interactive research gave a deeper understanding of a coronary care patient’s needs.

Exploring the development of the coronary care unit and advances in coronary treatment, interviewing experienced nursing staff, applying observational experience, and analyzing case studies helped to establish a fuller comprehension of the needs of a CCU patient room.

Our bodies are in constant motion; our arms grab the milk from the fridge, our lungs bring oxygen into our system, and our heart pumps blood throughout our bodies. This CCU patient room will promote and mimic the movement that our bodies’ practice every second of our lives. A relaxed EKG wave will be used to mimic our body’s movement; inspiring elements like the ceiling plane. Below are concept images that support the developmental process of the EKG implementation.

Design elements including universal design, sustainable material selections were used to achieve technical requirements and infectious disease control. The poster presentation features the integration of these elements. The final design of the CCU Patient Room was presented to Charlton Memorial Hospital’s internal facilities design team, who concurred with the design approach to improve the human experience.