How to Design Skilled Nursing Facilities

Skilled nursing facilities provide care and assistance to patients suffering from illness and injury. They offer a variety of services, including therapy, long-term care and skilled nursing services. Designing a skilled nursing facility requires careful planning. Considerations such as maximum patient capacity, types of offered services and level of care must be made when creating the facility design plan. Consult contractors to assure the design is acceptable and in accordance with laws.

Instructions

• 1

  Consider factors such as the maximum number of patients and types of services the facility will accommodate. Check local building codes and requirements to see what is permitted in the facility's preferred location. Certain zoning laws may apply to various areas. Determine the types of services needed in an area and consider implementing them into the design plan. Offering special services, such as aquatic therapy, may entice community members to use the skilled nursing facility, increasing business.

• 2

  Choose a location that is both large enough for the facility and offers the required amenities such as utility services.

  Determine the appropriate location for the skilled nursing facility. The site location must be able to accommodate both the facility building and adequate parking space for both employees and visitors. Preferred locations include areas that are away from busy streets and intersections. This helps prevent accidents from occurring should residents wander from the facility grounds. Make sure the location for the facility has utility access.

• 3

  Design the facility's floor plan. Create separate areas for patient rooms, lounges and various departments, including therapy, dietary, housekeeping and activities. Be sure to include ample space for each department. Keep in mind that each department must be able to accommodate patients, staff and equipment. Include equipment storage areas in the design plan. Make sure the design plan includes the appropriate fire safety features such as a sprinkler system, fire walls, fire escape routes and locations where extinguishers are to be placed.

• 4

  Keep similar department locations close to allow patients to move easily from one to another.

  Once the initial floor plan has been designed, assign areas for each department. Keep like areas together. For example, the physical and occupational therapy departments can be placed side by side, making it easy for patients to go from one department to the other. Housekeeping, laundry and janitorial departments should be located in an area away from patient quarters to assure patients cannot come into contact with cleaning or maintenance materials. Patient rooms can be separated into different wings, minimizing the number of patients in a single location.

• 5

  Work with contractors, building inspectors and health department inspectors to assure the skilled nursing facility is up to code. Discuss specific requirements, such as building permits, zoning laws, building requirements and health department standards that must be met, to prevent delays opening the facility. Talk to contractors to determine the amount of time needed to complete the building. Set up inspection meetings with both the building and health department inspectors to obtain the permits needed to run the facility. Rectify any problems that occur prior to opening the facility for operation.