Lighting for Hospital Patient Rooms: Fid-Bau Portal

Lighting for Hospital Patient Rooms

Guidelines are presented to aid hospital planners in determining optimum lighting needs for a patient's room in a general hospital. Emphasis is placed on ways to meet the various types of lighting required by patients, optimum lighting conditions in a patient's room for hospital personnel performing specific functions requiring different levels of illumination, and the effect of certain factors such as the shape and positioning of lighting units and reflectances resulting from the color and type of walls, ceilings, bedclothes, and furnishings. A team of investigators conducted numerous studies in specially designed mock-up patient rooms and in several multibed patient rooms in hospitals. In the mock-up rooms, many types of commercially available luminaires and experimental units were installed. Detailed studies were made by varying illumination levels and brightnesses as well as colors and reflectances of interior finishes. Photometer readings were taken and each situation was assessed to determine optimum lighting levels. The importance of a close working relationship between the architect, interior decorator, and lighting engineer was illustrated by tests and studies made to determine the extent to which lighting conditions are affected by color. It was determined that the reflectance factors of any color should be shown on architectural plans or in specifications. An important outgrowth of the studies was the development of a tentative code of lighting levels and brightnesses. Criteria for using the codes are presented, along with appended information on medical and related needs for lighting in a patient room in a general hospital and a selected bibliography.