Help people find their way in your hospital!

JANUARY 4, 2023| deanc

Everyone gets lost in hospitals. Hospitals are huge mazes of corridors that all look the same. Sure, there’s usually a map in the lobby, but it just guides people toward the part of the hospital that they will then get lost in. One way to ensure your hospital functions better is to make sure people can get to where they need to be on time.

What about wall signs?

Some hospitals try to guide people by putting strategically located signs on the wall with arrows pointing toward the various departments and room numbers. These signs can certainly be useful, but let’s say you are a patient with an appointment in Radiology. You consult the map in the lobby and set off. You come to an intersection and the sign says “ICU that way”, “Rooms 4000 to 4020 that way” and “Howard Memorial wing that way.” No mention of Radiology at all. This is because wall signs generally only indicate places that you happen to be close to already. If Radiology is way over in the other wing, no wall signs will mention Radiology until you somehow manage to get close to it.

The advantages of floor decals

Wayfinding floor decals have been proven to be an excellent way to help people navigate hospitals. Let’s go back to our patient looking for Radiology. This hospital has the usual map in the lobby but it says “to find Radiology, follow the RED wayfinding floor decals”. Now the patient can confidently just follow the red decals and arrive at Radiology. Once the patient is in Radiology, they can follow the wall signs to arrive at the correct room. And when they are finished with their appointment, they can just follow the red wayfinding floor decals backward to find the lobby.

Other uses of floor decals

Wayfinding floor decals can also be used throughout the hospital to guide people to the bathrooms, elevators, stairs, and exits. You can use a common theme throughout the hospital where a particular color or shape of floor decal tells the patient which way to go to get to these common and useful destinations, such as all bathrooms have purple stick figures walking toward them, and all elevators have blue spaceships flying toward them.

SpeedPro Irving can help you design, produce, and install your wayfinding floor decals. Your patients will be less anxious and stressed and will arrive on time for their appointments. Call us today to get started on the floor decals for your hospital.