Objectives: This study examines the role of visibility and proximity on nurse communication patterns, perception of privacy, and efficiency in double-corridor nursing units. Background: Nurses are extremely important for the quality of healthcare. The literature suggests that visibility and proximity have a substantial impact on the delivery of care and staff experience. However, few studies have empirically examined nursing units in China. Method: Questionnaire surveys, observations, and simulations of medication administration tasks were employed. Results: Visibility and proximity influenced communication patterns, perceptions of privacy, and efficiency. The type of wall in the medication room could impact nurses’ perception of privacy and efficiency. A partial glass wall in the medication room could achieve balance between privacy and visibility. A medication room that is adjacent to and is easily accessed from the nurse station (NS) could provide efficient communication and efficient work. The partition type between the NS and the doctor’s office and the layout of the medication room could impact communication patterns. The relative position of the NS, medication room, and disposal room could influence the flow of medication administration tasks, and a geographically contiguous spatial layout could enhance work efficiency. Conclusions: The findings contribute to the body of knowledge on the impact of visibility and proximity on nurses’ communication patterns, perception of privacy, and efficiency. Recommendations to improve the design of double-corridor nursing units are also provided.

This article revealed the frequency of nurse activities; how they spent their time; how they use the clinical spaces; identified important clinical spaces, linkages, and driver of inefficiency in nursing work and nursing unit design; and finally generated recommendations for double-corridor nursing unit design in China which can be used by medical planner, hospital administrator.

Objectives: This study examines the physical environment in the outpatient waiting area and its effects on overall satisfaction, experience, perceived waiting time, and behavior. Background: Waiting can be a frustrating experience for patients. Previous studies on waiting areas in hospitals have been rooted mainly in the Western cultural context, and research focusing on the impact of the physical environment on the waiting experience with the denser patient concentration in China is important. Methods: Physical environment measurements, observations, and questionnaire surveys were employed. Results: The actual lighting intensity and sound level did not meet the national standards. Sound level and satisfaction with the size of the waiting area, signage system, and visual art on the wall were significant predictors ( R 2 = .463, p = .000) for overall satisfaction. Experiences related to the size of the waiting area, seating, signage system, and restrooms were significant predictors ( R 2 = .373, p = .000) of overall waiting experience. The experience related to the acoustic environment (β = −.184, p = .006) had a significant relationship with perceived waiting time. The increase in participants’ behaviors of looking out of a window and the decrease in looking at other people, looking around, dozing, and looking at a wall might result from a substantial increase in lighting and the availability of a nature view from the window. Conclusions: The effect of the physical setting of waiting areas may positively impact patient satisfaction, waiting experience, perceived waiting time, and behavior, which has implications for patient-centered design.

Abstract:In order to improve the performance of X-band dual-polarization radars, it is necessary to conduct attenuation correction before using the X-band radar data. This study analyzes a variety of attenuation correction methods for the X-band radar reflectivity, and proposes a high-resolution slide self-consistency correction (SSCC) method, which is an improvement of Kim et al.'s method based on Bringi et al.'s original method. The new method is comprehensively evaluated with the observational data of convective cloud, stratiform cloud, and the stratiform cloud with embedded convection. Comparing with the intrinsic reflectivity at X-band calculated from the reflectivity at S-band, it is found that the new method can effectively reduce the correction errors when calculating differential propagation shift increments using the conventional self-consistency attenuation correction method. This method can efficiently correct the X-band dual-polarization radar reflectivity, in particular, for the echoes with reflectivity greater than 35 dBZ.

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