Inpatient Visits: Comfort & Privacy with Quality Care [Julia Yoder]

Julia: Hi, I'm Julia Yoder, the marketing and PR director at Brookings Health System, and welcome to the new Brookings Hospital. We're excited to show you the new service areas in our recent expansion. Joining me today is Kim, one of our registered nurses on the inpatient care unit. Kim, what can you tell me about the new inpatient rooms? 
 
Kim: Sure, so all of our rooms are private, so once you enter every room, they seem very spacious, warm, and inviting. There's a lot of natural light that comes in from the large windows in every patient room, and every room has its own private bathroom and shower, so all cares for the patient can now be done within the room, whether they are in a wheelchair or assistive device.  
 
Julia: How is the new inpatient care unit different from the old medical-surgical? 
 
Kim: So as you recall, we had two large nurse stations situated away from one another on each end of the building, around that nurse station, we had all of our inpatient rooms. This was beneficial to have nurse station and patient room so close to one another, but it was also very congested at times, and it got to be very noisy and disrupted patients. In our new inpatient care unit, we now have four smaller nurse stations decentralized around the unit, so we still continue to provide nurses and staff close to the patients, but yeah, we still have that quiet, calm environment in that flexibility. Another addition is our therapy gym. We now have provided therapy right there on the unit closer to the patients so that they continue to get that physical and occupational therapy sessions. Lastly, we have our nurse servers. Every patient room has a nurse server. Eighty percent of the supplies that we use on a daily basis on our patients are stocked within that nurse server, so we're no longer having to go in and out of the room multiple times to get those cares. All of that is provided within the nurse server within that patient room. And when we need to restock those nurse servers, we can do that outside the patient room without ever having to disrupt them.  
 
Julia: So what's been the response from patients and families? 
 
Kim: So since getting on the new inpatient care unit, we've had a overwhelming positive response from the patients, to the families, as well as our own staff and the community. If many can remember walking into the old building and on to the old rooms, and then they enter the new inpatient care unit, the comments that we get is that it's bright, it's beautiful, it's expansive. Whether they're walking down the hallway, they're sitting in a waiting room, or they're visiting someone in a patient room, it's a very homey and inviting feel. 
 
Julia: So what stayed the same from the old unit? 
 
Kim: Two of the things that have stayed the same is the positive patient experience that we try to provide for every one of the patients that enter, as well as the team approach to caring for each and every one of our patients. Nobody ever wants to be hospitalized. It can be very challenging, very stressful time not just for patient but also for the family. As a team, we collaborate and come together to take care of that patient with their goals in mind. No matter what next step that they take, we're there with them the entire way, and we have and will continue to do that through our high quality, compassionate, and personalized care.  
 
Julia: If you'd like to learn more about inpatient care at Brookings Health System, please visit us online at brookingshealth.org/inpatient.