What are the advantages and disadvantages of a single-corridor layout? Provide rationales for your answers
You have been asked to join the team designing the new suite of four operating rooms (ORs). The team has selected a single-corridor layout with mirrored design for the paired ORs (whereby the OR layout is a mirror image of the layout in the adjacent OR).
What will be an ideal response?
Answer:
Advantages: ‘Single-handing' refers to situations where the room plan is repeated. Standardising the layout of rooms provides more intuitive and consistent work flows for staff. Staff training is also more efficient, which is an advantage in areas requiring a high level of staff training, such as perioperative settings. For example, a new staff member entering any OR in the department will find the resources and hard-wired equipment such as the service panel, x-ray viewer and computer in the same location as in the other ORs in the department.
Rationale: This uniformity can improve efficiency because staff will not waste time searching for resources and adjusting to different layouts. This also has the potential to minimise staff errors, thereby enhancing staff and patient safety in the OR.
Disadvantages: The specific needs in ORs vary according to the procedures performed, and service panels and other hard-wired equipment may be inconveniently placed. For example, specialties that require surgical access to the patient's head (neurosurgery, ophthalmology, ENT etc) may need to position the OR table differently from other specialties. This is to ensure that the operative site is not in a staff traffic flow, or close to doorways and telephones.
Rationale: Air turbulence from high traffic flows and proximity to doors can increase the risk of contamination of the aseptic sterile field. Single-handed design can also be more expensive because it may not take advantage of the building efficiencies (see also advantages of mirror-image below).
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