Inside Duke Medicine
DRAH’s Same Day Surgery Waiting Area renovations making a difference
posted June 10th, 2010
Same Day Surgery at Duke Raleigh Hospital is the central hub for patients coming into the hospital for surgery. Every day staff prepare more than 70 patients for surgery and strive to provide a welcoming place for their families to wait.
In January, DRAH began a renovation process to equip the waiting area to better serve patients and their families.
"We were getting busier and busier and had outgrown our waiting room," said Sherrie Pritchard, RN, MSN, clinical operations director of Periop Services at DRAH.
The old waiting room did not provide enough room for patients to sit, according to Pritchard.
"It was crowded," she said. "There were days when people were standing."
The newly renovated area was recently unveiled and features a naturally lit, open and welcoming environment that better accommodates the many DRAH patients and their families. It features colorful artwork, comfortable chairs and a spacious layout.
"Now we have a space that is open and airy and provides adequate seating for all of our patients and their families," she said.
"I think the staff has really enjoyed seeing the space evolve and become something that they are proud of," she said. She thinks the staff enjoy the original artwork as much as the patients do.
Pritchard closely follows patient satisfactions scores and says that they are starting to see an improvement in scores related to the waiting area being comfortable.
Some of the highlights of the new area include:
• All new furniture with 24 additional seats
• New carpet, including an entrance-way with the Duke logo embedded in the carpet
• Removal of larger furniture items
• Removal of the vertical blinds to allow for more light
• Painting of walls and removal of wallpaper
• Renovations to private family/physician conference room