A predictive model for computing the influence of space layouts on nurses' movement in hospital units

Spatial design influences organizational productivity of healthcare by affecting how healthcare providers use the space. Current healthcare models are not very relevant for space layout and planning because they represent spatial variables through very simplistic measures such as path distances and number of physical resources. Adding syntactic variables of space to these models would derive the effects of alternative layouts better and in more realistic ways. This article presents a generalized linear model that predicts the effect of different layouts of hospital units on nurses' movement patterns. Results from the model show that spatial properties of a nurse's assignment have a predictable impact on the frequency of trips that he or she makes to the patient rooms during a shift. The model is shown to have explanatory power and can be used to predict the movement patterns of nurses for units that are roughly similar in size and organizational process.