Grad student studying effects of physician, nurse interactions on level of emergency room care

Arsalan Gharaveis, an architecture Ph.D. student at Texas A&M University, is investigating the impact of physician-nurse interactions on emergency room patient care with the help of a $7,500 [Academy of Architecture for Health Foundation] (http://aahfoundation.org/) Legacy Fellowship.

To perform the research, Gharaveis, using data and interviews collected in four ER facilities, is employing statistical methods, behavior mapping and other techniques to determine if the quality of physician and nurse teamwork, a crucial aspect of patient care, is affected by their level of visual contact, or visibility.

He is also reviewing the data as it relates to ER patient, visitor and staff safety.

Findings, he said, will identify preferable levels of physician and nurse visibility in hospitals’ emergency departments and may suggest design strategies for improving visibility, patient care and emergency room safety.

Gharaveis, whose additional areas of interest include wayfinding improvement in interior spaces and lighting in healthcare facilities, earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Art University of Isfahan, Iran in 2008 and a Master of Healthcare Architecture degree at the Iran University of Science and Technology in 2011.

The project’s funding source, the Academy of Architecture for Health Foundation, seeks to improve the quality of healthcare design and the design of healthy communities by developing, documenting, and disseminating knowledge, educating design practitioners and other related constituencies, advancing the practice of architecture, and affiliating and advocating with others that share these priorities.