Health care facilities have uniquely defined characteristics based on the needs of the facility or population served. Poor design may lead to staff, visitor, or patient stress. In large facilities, the inability to find a department may lead to frustrations and disorientation. Poor layout may also lead to staff inefficiencies or fines because of failure to meet regulatory requirements.

Throughout this course you will design a floor plan for the facility you selected in the Week 2 Facility Selection and Research assignment. This assignment illustrates the difficult balances between patient flow, workflow, safety, and aesthetics. You will use this document as a guide to understand the environmental design elements you should include in your final design. You will submit this document each week as your assignment.

For this project, you may use the program of your choice to complete the floor plan. Some programs to consider are Microsoft® PowerPoint®, Visio®, Publisher®, Excel®, or online floor plan programs such as Edraw, SmartDraw, Gliffy, and Lucidchart. Your faculty member will need to approve your choice, since he or she must be able to view your project in order to grade it. It is important to note that the purpose of this project is not to be an expert at creating a facility using your chosen program, but rather to ensure the concepts learned in this course can be applied to the facility design principles.  Your use of the floor planning program is meant to enhance your learning of the course and program concepts. 

Week Four: Facility Planning—Floor Plan, Part 2

This week you will continue to build your final facility. The legal team has asked you to provide them with considerations regarding legal and regulatory requirements that may affect the facility planning process. 

Add the following to your facility:

Assets and equipment:

All assets and equipment that should be considered for use by the patient, staff, and families

Regulatory considerations:

• Color and noise elements

Regulatory elements, such as Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines

• Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper. Your paper should:
• Analyze the impact of federal, state, and local legal and regulatory requirements on your selected facility.

Analyze accountability and liability implications for individuals and organizations for your selected facility.

• Analyze legal versus ethical considerations for your selected facility.
• Include a print screen of your facility below. Use the instructions provided if you need help adding a print screen.