'Room to Improve: Creating Family Rooms on Acute Hospital Wards in the Mater Hospital' (Poster at 2016 HFH Conference)

1. Acknowledgements / References
Room to Improve
Creating family rooms on acute hospital wards
Diarmuid Ó Coimín, Doreen Steenson, Mairead Curran
Mater Misericordiae University Hospital
Background
43% of all deaths in Ireland occur in hospitals. Our goal as a hospital is to endeavour to ensure that patients who die in our
care experience a place of sanctuary, where they die in comfort and dignity and their families are supported in their
bereavement.
Research conducted on the conditions of the environment in Irish acute hospitals in 2007 identified that there was a “lack
of facilities for private consultations and conversations in situations where confidentiality is paramount “ and also found
that there was a “lack of facilities for families and family rooms” (Tribal 2007). Feedback from patients and their families
has also suggested the need to have family rooms on busy acute wards.
Process / Implementation
Results
• A special thanks to the Irish Hospice Foundation and
their work with the HSE on Design and Dignity who
funded the first project and inspired this initiative.
•Thanks to the Mater Foundation and all hospital staff
for their ongoing support.
References:
Tribal Consulting Design and Dignity Baseline Review (2007).
Design and Dignity Guidelines(2008) , Irish Hospice Foundation .
Design and Dignity Style Book (2014), Irish Hospice Foundation ,
available online at : www.designanddignity.ie
For more information contact:
Diarmuid Ó Coimín. End of Life Care Coordinator, Mater
Hospital, Dublin docoimin@mater.ie
The first refurbished family room was opened in April 2012, since then eight more family rooms have been completely
refurbished.
•Creating warm, comfortable, non-institutional family rooms is possible in an acute hospital setting.
•The specification of the rooms was developed through the initial projects and there is now a standard family room layout.
•The success of the rooms has generated enthusiasm and a need from other ward areas to have a family room on their ward.
•This project is an excellent example of a hospital team working together to improve the environment for patients nearing end of
life and their families.
St John’s ward Family Room St Brigid’s ward Family Room St Vincent’s ward Family Room
Photographs
following
refurbishment
Photographs of
rooms
before
refurbishment
Feedback
• Ward areas were identified based on need
• Project teams were developed consisting of ward based staff, clinical staff and staff from the estate and facilities projects team
•Staff involved patients and their families in the design and colour selection of the rooms
•Funding was sourced through various sources, staff organised coffee mornings, cake sales & raffles and grant applications were made.
“The family room is a wonderful
addition to the ward, there was
nowhere to relax when I was here- the
pictures are beautiful and a great
addition to the room. Well done on all
the great work”
“You can get
away from it all in
here”
“It’s great that you can make a cup of tea
without having to interrupt the nursing
staff - who are so busy”
“The Sleepover sofa in the family room
allowed me be close to Dad in the nights
before he died – its invaluable ”
“This room lifts
my mood”
As one Clinical Nurse Manager noted “we are
keen to move away from the practice of “breaking
bad news and informing patient of a poor
prognosis, which happens on corridors and six
bedded bays, which as we all know are not
conducive to patient privacy, it’s a thing of the
past now that we have a family room”.
“The artwork in the
family room
distracts me from
my worries”
“We've met other families in this
family room who are in a similar
situation as we are. We could
share our experiences it's been
a great support”
•To enhance and improve the physical environment for the care of persons at the end of life including their families,
•To assess and evaluate existing family rooms and where necessary refurbish to ensure a consistent standard.
•To develop family rooms where none exist.
•To develop core criteria for family rooms.
Aims
April 2016