Nurses' Perceptions of Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Environment and Work Experience After Transition to Single-Patient Rooms

Abstract

Background: The architectural design of the pediatric intensive care unit may play a major role in optimizing the environment to promote patients' sleep while improving stress levels and the work experience of critical care nurses.

Objectives: To examine changes in nurses' perceptions of the environment of a pediatric critical care unit for promotion of patients' sleep and the nurses' work experience after a transition from multipatient rooms to single-patient rooms.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey of nurses was conducted before and after the move to a new hospital building in which all rooms in the pediatric critical care unit were single-patient rooms.

Results: Nurses reported that compared with multipatient rooms, single-patient private rooms were more conducive to patients sleeping well at night and promoted a more normal sleep-wake cycle (P < .001). Monitors/alarms and staff conversations were the biggest factors that adversely influenced the environment for sleep promotion in both settings. Nurses were less annoyed by noise in single-patient rooms (33%) than in multipatient rooms (79%; P < .001) and reported improved exposure to sunlight.

Conclusions: Use of single-patient rooms rather than multipatient rooms improved nurses' perceptions of the pediatric intensive care unit environment for promoting patients' sleep and the nurses' own work experience.