BA516-OM Group 1

Case No. 9 Laying out Arnold Palmer Hospital’s New Facility

1. Identify the many variables that a hospital needs to consider in layout design.

A. Efficiency – this is the major concern, thus, nursing must have more time to do their
job rather than consuming more of it in walking.
B. Time-Saving – It is important to have lesser time of walking going to rooms for
closely monitoring of all the patients.
C. Space – for us to have enough place to move freely and entertain for visitors, friends
and families.
D. Privacy – it gives the patients trust and peace of mind when he/she knows that the
hospital secured their privacy.
E. Location – things needed must place near with the station for immediate use.
2. What are the advantages of the circular pod design over the traditional linear hallway
layout found in most hospitals?
A. Tripping for each room is easier and time saving since it requires minimal time of
walking going to patient’s room compare to traditional one which eat approximately 30%
of your time.
B. Work efficiency is best, since travel time is minimize, nurse and hospital staffs will be
more productive.
C. In circular pods, can accommodate more clients and it is easier to monitor patients since
local nursing station placed in the middle of each pod different from the central station.
3. Figure 9.21 illustrates a sample linear hallway layout. During a period of random
observation, Nurse Thomas Smith’s day includes 6 trips from the nursing station to each of
the 12 patient rooms (back and forth), 20 trips to the medical supply room, 5 trips to the
break room, and 12 trips to the linen supply room. What is his total distance traveled in
miles?
The total distance travelled for a nurse Thomas during the day, her total distance in feet will be:
6 trips from nursing station times (x) 2 (round trip) times (x) 2 (back and forth)
(20+30+40+50+60+70) distance each room from nursing station + 20 trips medical supply times
(x) 2 roundtrip times (x) 50 plus (+) 5 trips break room time (x) 2 roundtrip times ( x) 40
distance from nursing station plus (+) 12 trips linen room x 2 roundtrip times (x) 30 distance
from nursing station = 6480 + 2000 + 400 + 720 = 9600 foot , that is in equivalent to 1.8181=
1.82 miles travelled.

4. Figure 9.22 illustrates an architect’s drawing of Arnold Palmer Hospital’s new circular
pod system. If nurse Susan Jones’s day includes 7 trips from the nursing pod to each of the
12 rooms (back and forth), 20 trips to central medical supply, 6 trips to the break room,
BA516-OM Group 1

and 12 trips to the pod linen supply, how many miles does she walk during her shift? What
are the differences in the travel times between the two nurses for this random day?
The total distance travelled for a nurse Thomas during the day: 7 trips (x) times 2 (round trip) x
12 rooms ( x) 14 + 20 trips x 2 x 60 + 6 trips to Break Room x 2 x 60 + 12 trips to Pod Linen
Supply x 2 x 14 = 2352 + 2400 + 720 + 336 =5808 foot = 1.1 miles.

5. The concept of servicescapes is discussed in this chapter. Describe why this is so

important at Arnold Palmer Hospital, and give examples of its use in layout design.
Servicescape is defined as the physical environment where a service can take place. It helps to
analyze and identify the impact of a good environment on the service-based industry.
Servicescapes has different aspect:
1. Spatial layout and functionality
Spatial layout is about the way you arrange the furnishings, equipment and machinery,
their shape and size and of course, the spatial relationship which exists amongst them.
Functionality is about the ability of those items to accomplish customer satisfaction.
2. Signs, symbols, and artifacts
The sign is one of the most explicit signals that can communicate directly with a
customer in a physical environment. These are prominently displayed on both exterior
and interior of a place and generally act as communicators.
3. Ambient conditions
The background conditions of an environment like color, noise, music, sound, lighting,
etc. are included in ambient conditions. These are important factors as they affect one or
other of our five senses and can change the mindset and perception of a person.

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For a big Hospital like Arnold Palmer, it is important to have servicescape it in. It affects their
mood towards every situation and helps them for proper guidance and functionality of each
facilities. Even in their employee, it gives motivational spirit in the workplace and somehow
helps them to be more efficient.
6. As technology and costs change, hospitals continue to innovate. The reduced cost of
computers means some hospitals have moved from a central computer at the nurse’s
station to computers in the room or on carts (see photo). What changes in overall hospital
layout would these innovations suggest?
Well, there will be a central source of data, which is good to for easily finding information for
every clients and also, it lessen space for record room that sometimes composed of bulky
paperwork and etc.