IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2011 - 20

Conversant with both Interior Design and clinical issues, Debbie meets with Scott Johnson, PE (VP at SSr) to discuss a current design project where she serves as senior clinical consultant.

DEBBIE GrEGory :: nUrSE + InTErIor DESIGnEr

“Nurses have been incredibly enthusiastic about being a part of the design process. They have a ‘process improvement’ mindset. The designers move on, but nurses have to make it work, and they would use duct tape if they had to.”
Debbie Gregory, Assoc. IIDA, rn, BSn, President, nursing Institute for healthcare Design, Brentwood, Tn

the nurses in the audience. From the ten nurses who showed up and who responded to a quick survey created on the spot, Debbie’s database of nurses interested in healthcare design was born. The conference began the challenge of discovery to determine where the nurse fits in to the design process and what role the nurse should contribute as a part of the design team, according to Debbie. As a design intern attending end user meetings, one role was immediately obvious: that of interpreter between the two professions, both literally to translate professional terms (to a nurse, ADA Guidelines would suggest the American Diabetic Association’s recommended diet) and to bridge the culture and communication gaps (no, the designers did not want to talk about HGTV!). But more importantly, Debbie realized that she could help designers pose the right questions—such as about a facility’s local demographic, its specific nursing population, and its goals for growth—all critical to achieving successful facilities. While she received offers to join architecture and healthcare planning firms as a full-time consultant and researcher, Debbie continued to feel

fter 21 years as a nurse and nursing consultant, in 2005 Debbie Gregory decided to return to school to study interior design to pursue a love for space planning and design. As she began studying programming, schematic design, and design development, and then researching and designing for healthcare projects, the chasm of understanding between the two fields became particularly apparent. She wondered, “Is anyone asking the nurses about their opinions on the design and function of their work environments?” and began investigating. To her surprise there was little data from the nursing community. In fact, the only research she found was in the emerging field of evidence-based design. Impressed with this concept, she felt strongly that nurses could be contributing significantly to research and design decisions. At a healthcare design conference in 2005 she slipped a note to a speaker asking him to announce an impromptu meeting for

she could make a greater impact by educating nurses about design and their potential greater presence in it. After creating a website and building a network of nurses for a few years, along with her nursing colleague Laura Hayes, Debbie officially launched the Nursing Institute for Healthcare Design (NIHD) in 2010. As a nonprofit association, it is dedicated to educating and inspiring nurse leaders about their role in healthcare design and construction. The organization provides tools and research, peer education and mentoring, as well as connection to other members. An educational curriculum about how the design and construction process works enables nurses to better participate on design teams in addition to join facility planning departments. Nurses have contacted the NIHD from all over the world, eager to be a part of designing clinical spaces. on the design side, architects, contractors, facility managers, hospital administrators, and clinicians have become involved and want to impact this new collaborative relationship that will facilitate trust, respect, shared goals, improved clinical work environments, and ultimately patient outcomes.
Photographer: Allison Grainger

perspective

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2011