Creating spaces in intensive care for safe communication: A videoreflexive ethnographic study

Abstract

Background The built environment in acute care settings is a new focus in patient safety research, with few studies focusing primarily on the design of ward environments and the location and choice of material objects such as light fittings and hand-washing basins.Methods We report on an interventionist videoreflexive ethnographic (VRE) study that explored how clinicians used the built environment to achieve safe communication in an intensive care unit (ICU) in a metropolitan Sydney hospital. We conducted 40 semistructured interviews, 5 weeks of observation and four reflexive focus groups with a total of 87 participants (including medical, nursing, allied health and clerical staff).Results W..