Green healthcare facilities: assessing the impacts of indoor environmental quality on the working environment from the perspective of health care workers

Abstract

The primary aim of this study is to investigate the impacts of indoor environment on the nursing staff of public hospitals in the tropics. The research was conducted in three Singaporean public hospitals. Of the three study hospitals, one had just been completed and awarded with the highest certification level for Green Mark Assessment Tool (GMAT). The second hospital had undergone remodelling and classified as an existing green hospital with the second highest level of GMAT certification. The last hospital, selected as control, had never undergone GMAT certification. Several peer reviewed studies have shown that healthcare workers are often dissatisfied with the indoor environment and environmental design features of hospital wards. However, the perceptions and wellbeing of healthcare workers towards the indoor environment within green hospitals is little known to date. This study investigates whether the nurses of green hospitals perceived the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) of their work place to have a positive effect on their wellbeing and perception as compared to the convention. The secondary aim is to comment on the role of GMAT in promoting sustainability in Singapore. This study has two parts. In the first part, the quantitative measurements of IEQ parameters were taken in the context of air conditioned and naturally ventilated hospital wards. In the second part of this investigation, a survey instrument was designed to evaluate the nurses wellbeing and perceptions of their working environment. The two studies, when combined, would reveal the overall nursing staff s perception and attitude towards green hospital facilities and the indoor environment of public hospital wards in the Tropics. Results showed that GMAT certification, as a measure of successful green building design, did not influence the perception and satisfaction of the nurses. Furthermore, it was found that although the green hospitals achieved high GMAT certification, healthcare workers often complained about various IEQ parameters. In short, the results from this study need to be further substantiated by long term research and a larger sample size of test subjects. In addition, more research needs to be conducted to optimize GMAT standards for the benefits of occupants within healthcare facilities