Stantec : 5 elements for a healthy medical lounge

The staff lounge-more than a place to get coffee?
In short, the staff lounge is a place where staff can nurture all the important aspects of being a professional outside of an exam room. Social connection and collaboration between staff, professional development, research, and communication all happen here. Contemplation and revitalization too.

Social connection is important for healthcare staff. Getting to know their coworkers personally, staff members feel more comfortable professionally-they come to work more inspired; they share ideas, information, and issues. These lounges promote informal information sharing that's crucial to good organizations and doesn't happen when staff are siloed in private offices.

Ultimately, we're talking about a type of workplace. Our colleagues in workplace design know that schemes like open plans can promote collaboration, break down walls between departments and roles, and allow information to be shared internally. So, ideally these hospital lounges have that buzz of inspiring, collaborative office spaces and are places where medical professionals can team up on research or stay up on the latest practices-ultimately resulting in better, more efficient care.

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Practically speaking, today's medical professionals need space where they can perform research and communications online, make private phone calls, or have one-on-one conversations. Medical shifts can be long and stress can be high, so the lounge needs to be a space where decompression and contemplation takes place too.

But these spaces should also open up as needed. The lounges can double as gathering spaces for staff functions or even for lectures and events open to the public.

Now that we've implemented these staff lounges on several healthcare projects, we have a good idea of what makes them flourish.