Healthcare professionals - this one's for you.

 
It’s simple, really. 

Patients can’t function without proper medical facilities.

Medical facilities can’t function without its staff. 
Its staff can’t function without adequate lighting.

Each element directly impacting the others.

The hustle and bustle inside hospitals and other healthcare facilities never ceases. Always expected to deliver the highest performance of work, these individuals carry heavy expectations with little to no room for error. Along with proper education, regular sleep regiment, a healthy lifestyle, and commitment to their career, effective lighting can directly impact the health of a hospital’s staff as well as its patients. In fact, it’s actually a critical component for successful healthcare facility. 

How so, you may ask?

Various studies have been conducted in which reveal the connection lighting has on the impact of human health and performance in healthcare settings. Here are some of the findings that reveal the positive results of lighting: 

1. Enables critical chemical reactions in the body

Sufficient lighting helps provide appropriate levels of Vitamin D to staff and patients. Exposure to light is critical for Vitamin D metabolism in the human body. Light radiation is absorbed directly by the body through the skin and stimulates chemical reactions in the blood and other tissues. 

2. Better performance of visual tasks 

Healthcare professionals have a variety of visual tasks to complete throughout their shift. Whether it’s charting, filling prescriptions, administering medication, or performing other critical patient-care tasks, specific-utility lighting is vital to produce the best results. 
 
3. Thermal management

Temperature is another factor that impacts the performance inside a hospital. These facilities need to be closely temperature-controlled to ensure the best environment for patients. With LED lighting, less heat is emitted and can be dialed into to maintain balance.

4. Improves adjustment to night-shift work among staff

Healthcare professionals typically have a much different scheduling than the typical 8-5. Therefore, their bodies must adapt to a different sleeping cycle to re-energize. Staff on the late night/early morning shifts are susceptible to decreased alertness, performance, and vigilance. Effective lighting is connected to helping staff carry themselves throughout the entirety of their workday. 

5. Lowers pain and alters mood

Appropriate amount of lighting is connected to reduces a patient’s physical pain as well as their psychological state.

6. Reduces depression among patients

For most individuals, hospitals are not the ideal place to spend a large amount of time. Therefore, patients can become lonely, discouraged, and even depressed. Connected to the aforementioned benefit, lighting is directly correlated to reducing these negative states among patients. 

7. Improving sleep and circadian rhythm

It may seem strange that the presence of light improves sleep quality, as most prefer sleeping in the dark. However, the light that falls on the retina controls the body’s circadian rhythm, which is responsible for synchronizing the body’s internal clock. Individuals consistently exposed to artificial bright lights have experienced substantial changes in sleep quality. 
 
8. Lessening agitation for dementia patients

Disruptive behavior of patients suffering from dementia is proven to significantly drop for residents that received constant light levels. Studies also show that exposure to bright lights in the morning reduce agitation, specifically for elderly dementia patients. 

9. Decreases length of hospital stay

Lastly, lighting was connected to how long individuals had to remain in healthcare facilities. Studies showed shorter stays for both males and females who underwent treatment in brightly lit rooms.

Despite these additional benefits, the overall advantage of having appropriate lighting in a high-risk work environment such as a hospital is plain to see. No matter the industry, effective lighting means a better working environment. With creating a custom LED lighting design, your business can have greater control, efficiency, and reliability. Our designers can consult with your business on specific elements your hospital needs and then can create a plan that saves money and improves quality.

So, healthcare professionals, when asking how you can better the lives of your staff and patients, take your facility’s lighting plan into consideration; and when you’re ready, we’ll be here to help. 

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(Source: The Center of Health Design and Sib Lighting)