A recent study has suggested that decentralized nursing units, designed to put nurses closer to the patients and can eliminate visibility issues, can hurt collaboration, according to an article on the Health Facilities Management website.

Research by the Institute for Health + Wellness Design at the University of Kansas (KU) School of Architecture, Design & Planning is looking at how hospital units are actually was running and if decentralized stations being used as anticipated.

Study authors have hypothesized that although decentralized units place nurses closer to patients, they may unintentionally isolate them from other staff, making it harder for nurses to get questions answered and delaying care as a result, the article said. 

“One of the comments I’ve heard during interviews with the nurses is that ‘we’re human. We’re not machines,’” one researcher sais in the article. “They need that human contact. They need to talk with their peers, even if it’s just to vent. It’s necessary for a better working experience.”

Read the article.