Florence Nightingale Was Right

JULY 11, 2016| SpeedPro of Denver

Sometime before the turn of the last century, “The Lady with the Lamp” advocated the use of natural sunlight and soothing colors to create a relaxing setting that would encourage healing. Research has confirmed that Florence Nightingale was right¹. Patients in well-designed hospital rooms experience less anxiety, require less pain medication and have shorter hospital stays, according to The Center for Health Design, an organization of health care and design professionals that uses evidence-based research to develop standards for functional hospital designs.

Hospitals have always employed architects, of course, but didn’t necessarily heed Florence’s advice. That has been changing and in a big way. “Positive distractions,” such as beautiful artwork, give patients something to focus on, other than their discomfort from medical procedures.² Sky Ridge Medical Center in south Denver ranked an impressive 7 out of 25 in The 25 Most Amazing Modern Hospitals in the World published in April, 2015 by the Best Master of Science in Nursing Degrees organization. The ranking came in no small part to its extensive art collection with pieces selected specifically “to bring aesthetic beauty and a sense of home to guests.” Note they don’t have patients, they have guests!

Still, we tend to visualize hospitals as well as urgent care facilities and out-patient treatment centers as bright white boxes that we’d rather not go to. So maybe we just haven’t noticed the shift going on because it can be as subtle as a soft yellow paint instead of a jolting white, wall murals depicting outdoor scenes in a waiting room, or elevator wraps with cheerful seasonal messages.

Most healthcare providers know they realistically can’t obtain a pricey art collection to raise the aesthetic beauty of their facility, but may not know where to start to bring in some color. SpeedPro, a large format print studio, has worked on-site at hospitals to develop those “positive distractions” for their waiting and patient rooms, as well welcoming outdoor banners and wraps for elevators. Creating interesting graphics is what we do.

Give us a call at 303.426.4199, email denver@speedprodenver.com or visit www.speedpro.com/denver to talk about your large format print jobs. We provide free estimate and will come to you. To see and read about more print jobs we’ve done, check out our Studio News, read some glowing reviews and check out our impressive, extensive portfolio!

 

Sources:

1 International Network for Neuroaesthetics, Published July 17, 2012 Written by Meika Jensen 2 Positive Distractions, published March 11, 2012 by Debajyoti Pati, PhD, for HKS Clinical Solutions & Research in collaboration with American Art Resources designed a study to examine the influence of positive distractions in the dental and cardiac clinic waiting areas at Children’s Medical Center of Dallas. A positive distraction has been defined as “an environmental feature that elicits positive feelings and holds attention without taxing or stressing the individual, thereby blocking worrisome thoughts.”