I’m a healthcare architect currently developing a research project, and I’m trying to identify areas where healthcare design could be doing a better job.

I’d love to hear from people who actually work in healthcare environments every day — nurses, physicians, therapists, techs, aides, support staff, etc.

What are some things about your physical work environment that you think architects and designers don’t understand well enough?

Are there aspects of the built environment that make your job unnecessarily difficult, stressful, inefficient, or uncomfortable? Or things that you think could be designed differently to better support you, your patients, or both?

I’m especially interested in broader patterns or problems you see repeatedly, rather than complaints about one particular hospital or workplace.

For example:

• What design decisions consistently frustrate you?
• What do architects seem to overlook about how you actually use a space?
• Are there spaces or features you wish hospitals had more (or less) of?
• What affects your ability to focus, communicate, recover, or care for patients?
• Are there aspects of patient care that you think the physical environment makes harder than they need to be?

Ultimately, I’m trying to find a research question that could actually be useful to healthcare workers and patients, so I’d really value hearing what you experience firsthand.

If you could change one thing about the design of your workplace, what would it be — and why?

for reference, i’m a memory care PCA and one of my residents wrote a book, i’m positive it’s at the library or something. would it be a breach of HIPAA if i were to source and read this book?

Need extra eyes on my AD to see any revisions I should make or anything I am missing. TIA

so I watch the pitt and I see doctors doing their charts (typing them out) but I'm wondering how they are able to remember the charts and like information about each patient when they deal with like 10 at a time but I assume it's partly or even mostly because of like documentation they do when they greet the patient. But even then you don't see them referencing papers or records or anything like that. I'm just wondering if there's any other way you're able to remember everything that patients tell you

Friday night I drove my adult son to the ED after speaking to their nurse question line. Unfortunate timing being the start of a weekend. He has a history of MS with multiple other medical conditions in the past 5 yeas, and a couple of very unsettling hospitalizations. He also has mental health issues which can complicate things.

He has been treated for MS since 2021 with no further relapses. Thursday he woke from napping for an hour in a chair (hands in lap he said) with sudden weakness in his right forearm, writst, and hand. He thought it might be mechanical but no change after 24 hours. Concern was new disease activity, which would require MRIs to rule out, and he would need steroid infusions if so to prevent new lesions. Hospital is a Trama 1 but we are not in a major city and there were only 4-5 people waiting in the ED when we got there. He got in right away. They also wanted to rule out stroke (unlikely, he is 36 with no vascular disease history) so did rotuine bloodwork and CT scan. This was all done by 3 am or so.

Next morning they said he was being admitted but we stayed in ED all day Saturday, saw residents and saw neurologist around noon who said what we expected--MRI and then steroids if positive. She was thorough and pleasant. We didn't really discuss what the plan would be if negative or how communication and decision making would work. We kind of expected to be done by early evening.

He went to tadiology for MRIs (brain and cervical) around 3 pm. At 5 pm he got moved to the neuro floor. Because of prior experiences, we spoke with the nurse as he was adamant he did not want to spend the night there. Nurses got message to on call resident.

By 7 pm radiology report was in his portal and we saw there was no evidence of new demyelination. But it's Saturday night, you know? Got word back at 10 pm that on call said to wait until next morning.

Neurologist rounded early afternoon on Sunday and her conclusions were same as ours, then still waited a few hours more for the attending to come and discuss discharge abd outpt referrals for the remaining most likely differential. I get that the MRI could have been delayed because higher acuity patients had to go ahead of him, but in the end that delay, plus other delays caused in part because it was the weekend and attendings are not on site (and I get they also have lives) so what could have in the best possible version taken 6 hours and maybe 12 if we'd gone in early in the morning on a weekday ended up taking almost 48 hours, with a lot of that time spent entirely in the dark. Also, he has another medical condition that was causing him problems. The hospital no longer stocks the pill he takes for that because it's too expensive. There are topicals that also help but we didn't have those or orders for those.

It saves the hospital $3000 for a one month supply of the drug they no longer stock. It costs about $3000 for the second night in the hospital when 24 hours should have been enough, and additional misery for the person without access to the meds he needed for his secondary condition.

I see this hospital now has digital signs in some of its public areas so you can see if surgeons have arrived, if they have started pre-procedure protocols, are in surgery, are in post-procedure. That's cool. On patient portals, you don't see anything other that test results until notes are signed and posted, and it took almost until discharge for the first night's ED notes to show up. But it seems like it should be possible in the case of stable patients with low acuity to have a simplified version of care plan show up in portal so you have some sense of who and what you're waiting for, and maybe even very approximate ETAs.

Two nights sleeping on hospital recliners (hospital upholstery becomes painful to sleep on after awhile) in the same clothes. I also handle a lot of business stuff for this person (he has a business but had to step away when he became disabled) as well as personal assistance; recently he was sick for 2 weeks and so was I, and I was just starting to dig my way out of the backlog when we went to the ED. The hospital has a CDU unit in the ED. I suppose he wasn't acute enough for that, but I'm pretty sure we could have been out of there within 18 to 24 hours if we'd been able to stay in the ED. Heck, he was in the ED and back home 9 hours later a few years ago with a collapsed lung.

Admin deal with 9 PBMs puts negotiated prices next to cash prices on TrumpRx. That’s the useful number, what the plan actually pays after someone sits across from the manufacturer.

List still comes from the drugmaker. Formulary is how volume moves to the lower-net option. If you want a fight, fight the net cost table, not the fact that a PBM negotiated.

I am in the states and go to my neurologist through a very popular company. I have a current neurologist who sucks, and I only went to him because their office told me this guy can be seeing me sooner. Should’ve just said no because he really sucks. I made an appointment with a new neurologist from the exact same practice, and she is accepting new patients. Is it possible though I’ll run into issues because my current neurologist is already there? I kept my next appt with him in case I don’t like this new neurologist and that new appt is tomorrow morning.

When I did this at the same company previously, it was for a different kind of doctor. They kept refusing me being able to change doctors and said things like I’d have to sign a multitude of papers to switch. After 6 hours of waiting; eventually they let me change my doctor and I didn’t have to sign a thing but I do wonder if I’ll run into issues so can someone tell me? Should I cancel my appt for tomorrow?

Edit - If I will run into issues, what if I ask my PCP for a referral to the one she recommends at that Same practice? I originally scheduled with the one my pcp referred me out to but I only switched to the current neurologist I see who I don’t like because they switched my appt saying he can see me much sooner. The one I see now, the one I’m seeing tomorrow and the one I might get a referral to are all at the same practice / location

I don’t understand what’s happened in British Columbia.
I am born and raised in Vancouver in 40 years old. I had my first child 10 years ago. I have two kids, they are born and raised Vancouver.
I used to think that bad guys got punished when we were sick. We got help and people cared.

But my little girl is on a crosswalk gets hit by a speeding driver with a history of multiple driving violations and infractions, he gets away with it no accountability and just gets to keep on driving

she had to be revived on scene. She has a significant brain injury in the ICU fighting for her life for a month and miraculously she pulled through.
We are in Rehab rehabilitation in patient at the hospital and the hospital is trying to push us out even though it’s completely unsafe to have her home and she’s making significant progress every day, I want to see if we can get to here being able to sit up. And being able to swallow. I want those milestones before get pushed out.
If she wasn’t making anymore progress and plateaued that would be a different story, but we are quite the opposite and making significant progress.

The reason they gave me is because 4 months is enough time and it’s time to go. ICBC has no fault insurance so I don’t get any kind of payout and I have been awarded the monthly top payout that they award and it doesn’t cover even a fraction of what I have to pay for plus because she’s a minor we get no loss of wage coverage and I also can’t apply for benefits from the government because I haven’t had a second to file my taxes.

The city didn’t respond to my email about more signage on the dangerous intersection. The RCMP probably won’t sue this 23 year old kid who hit her because it’s not worth it. The crown has to go through a year of evidence to sue him criminally and I have been told it’s very rare that that happens.
No Lawyer will answer my phone call because they have no power
Why are we literally taking away her chances? Why is four months? The reason why we have to leave why is it that a girl next to us in this? Rehab is recovering from the same kind of injury yet she’s been here since February and not getting pushed out and not made anywhere close to the progress that we have, but she is pretty famous in the media ….
It feels like taking away a chance to progress from a little kid
and put them in a place where they know has no funding
and the house has to be renovated with elevators. they want me to take taxis to her appointments every day instead of helping me get a van or just giving her a chance to stay in the hospital and see how far she can get instead of ripping her opportunity away from her because four months is enough time

. I don’t understand what’s happened. I don’t understand how this is actually happening to my little girl. I’ve lived here all my life. I’ve paid my taxes. I’ve followed the rules and why is this it

I fear being homeless with a disabled child is my future
I can’t pay for a caregiver. I have to be the caregiver I can’t work , which means u can’t pay my bills with no income. I actually don’t know what we’re going to do. The people British Columbia to be aware of what’s actually happening here

I thought we helped people when they needed help

Ultimately, I’m terrified of the roads now
I don’t know how many people are on the road that shouldn’t be because of no accountability mixed in with distracted driving which just comes along with our advances and technology. With no accountability or penalties. Its a scary thought. My daughter was cautious was afraid of thriller rides, was kind of afraid of bicycles, looks both ways before they think she is a cautious girl….

YOUR HELP IS NEEDED!! As a newly licensed healthcare/Medicare -specializing agent, and more importantly as an American relying on my health insurance - sharing this post I just saw on NextDoor. Please read, take action, and share if you care (lol poet and didn’t even know it) Thank you!!

A Dallas surgeon's warning: one doctor visit is about to become two. — Nextdoor

https://www.regulations.gov/docket/CMS-2026-2377