Aim: The overall aim of the thesis was to illuminate the meanings of intensive care units’ patient rooms as a place of care for critically ill patients and their loved ones. Moreover, it was aimed to develop photovoice as a data collection method for research in ICU context. Methods and materials: Data has been collected using photovoice methodology in combination with research interviews for all three empirical studies. In total 37 people participated. Nine patients, fourteen loved ones and fourteen nurses from three ICU settings. Study I examined the perspective of loved ones, for this purpose a phenomenological hermeneutic method rooted in the philosophy of Ricoeur was chosen. Study II and III examined patients’ respectively nurses’ perspective. Both studies are phenomenologically orientated guided by a reflective lifeworld approach rooted in continental philosophy. Study IV is a theoretical paper focusing on employing photovoice as a data collection method in ICU context. Main findings: The tone and touch of caring is vital for how ICU patient room is materialized for patients. The interior design and furnishing has a great impact on the wellbeing of the loved ones and also the support they can offer the critically ill patient. One major finding is that the ICU patient room is a taken for granted place for health care providers and the impact of it upon caring, patients’ and loved ones wellbeing is not reflected over. It also seems unclear who is responsible for the environment of ICU once it has been built. The environment of ICU affects nurses’ ability to care for the patients and their family in a genuine way and to promote their wellbeing during a fragile time in life. Conclusions: There is an urgent need to translate research findings into clinical practice in order to improve the environment of ICU patient rooms. There is also need of further research and policies for transforming the hostile environment of the patient rooms to a healing environment more conductive to people’s recovering process. / <p>Akademisk avhandling som för avläggande av filosofie doktorsexamen vid Linnéuniversitetet försvaras vid offentlig disputation, 13 juni 2014, klockan 14.00 i sal Wicksell, Hus K, Växjö</p>

Explored in this study were the patterns of direct sunlight received by differentlyoriented patient rooms in healthcare facilities. Desktop Radiance 1.02&reg / software was used to simulate conditions in a typical double patient room. The area and locations of sunlight patches on room surfaces were considered as analog indicators for the investigation. The setting was defined as Ankara, Turkey. Seven orientations and 3 positions of standard-size window openings were studied in different combinations at solstices and equinoxes, from sunrise to sunset on an hourly basis for comparison. Data compiled were statistically analyzed and results for various combinations of orientation and opening position recorded. All these showed that there was no difference in the total amount of direct sunlight received between rooms with different orientations but there was, with different opening positions. Orientation created a difference in the amount of direct sunlight when the room surfaces were studied separately. Rooms with right and left-shifted openings received direct sunlight mostly on walls while those with centered openings received direct sunlight mostly on floor surfaces. Results suggested there were sufficient grounds for further investigation focusing on decisions related to the design of patient rooms, such as layout (e.g., the location of beds) and to choice of surfacing materials, colors and textures.

Patient:innen psychiatrischer Einrichtungen können durch übermäßiges, häufig situativ bedingtes Aggressions- oder Suizidpotential sowie Rauscherscheinungen in akute Notsituationen verfallen. Häufig überschreiten diese Extremfälle den Handlungsrahmen der Station, weshalb die Patient:innen eine Versorgung im kleineren Rahmen sowie durch spezialisiertes Personal benötigen. Aus diesem Grund verfügen manche Stationen bereits über einen externen Krisenbereich, welcher innerhalb der allgemeinen Station liegt. Dieser ist im Sinne der Patient:innen abgegrenzt, und ermöglicht besondere Schutzmaßnahmen sowie eine intensivere Überwachung durch das Personal. [... aus dem Text]