Natural light makes for happier, more alert nurses

Date: Aug-07-2014 Hospital patients seeking the best possible care may be advised to consider the health

and well-being of the nurses who look after them. New research suggests nurses who

work in natural light have lower blood pressure, are in better moods when they serve patients,

and show other signs of improved well-being over nurses who work in artificially lit surroundings

with fewer windows.

Rana Zadeh, assistant professor of design and environmental analysis at Cornell University in

Ithaca, NY, and colleagues describe how they came to these conclusions in a study published in

the journal Health Environments Research and Design.

Nurses work on demanding and sensitive tasks that require them to be alert - they also work

long shifts and unsociable hours. Their performance underpins not only the quality of care

delivered on a ward, but also patient and staff safety.

Working in natural light improves performance and alertness

Nurses who work in natural light show signs of improved well-being over nurses who work in artificially lit surroundings, the new study suggests.

In their paper, Prof. Zadeh and colleagues explain how there is evidence that working in

environments lit by natural light improves performance, mood and alertness, and that having

access to natural light and windows with views have restorative effects on people both

physiologically and psychologically.

And yet, until this study, nobody had carried out a thorough investigation of the effect of

daylight on health care employees' well-being, which is somewhat surprising, given how so many

hospitals have working environments with no natural lighting.

For their investigation, Prof. Zadeh and colleagues studied two wards of an acute-care unit.

The wards were similarly organized and had similar environments, and the numbers and types of

patients and conditions they treated were similar - but they differed significantly in the

availability of windows in the nursing stations.

The team collected a range of measures so they could compare aspects of health, behavior, mood

and performance of the nurses in the two wards.

Workstations with natural lighting may improve nurses' well-being and patient care

The results showed that the nurses in the ward with more natural light had significantly lower

blood pressure, communicated and laughed more, and served their patients in better moods than

their counterparts in the ward that did not have as many windows to the outside.

The team suggests letting natural light into the nurses' workstations resulted in improved

alertness and mood restoration effects, and that the findings "support evidence from laboratory

and field settings of the benefits of windows and daylight."

Prof. Zadeh says the design of physical environments where caregivers work on critical tasks

should be supportive of their performance and their health:

"Nurses save lives and deal with complications every day. It can be a very intense and

stressful work environment, which is why humor and a good mood are integral to the nursing

profession. A smart and affordable way to bring positive mood - and laughter - into the

workplace, is designing the right workspace for it."

Where access to natural daylight and the opportunity to look out onto a nice view is not

possible, then the next best thing is to optimize artificial lighting so that its spectrum,

intensity and variability support circadian rhythms and work performance, she adds.

The Center for Health Design Research Coalition helped fund the study.

Meanwhile, in February 2014, The Lancet published a study that found following

surgery,  patient survival is

linked to nurses' workload. The European researchers found that for every extra patient in a

nurse's average workload, the chance of surgical patients dying within 30 days of admission

increased by 7%.

Written by Catharine Paddock PhD

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Courtesy: Medical News Today Note: Any medical information available in this news section is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional.