Patient Headwall

Hospital patients receive medical care in emergency rooms (ER), intensive care units (ICU), and patient rooms (PR). Rapid response and continued care are supported by services like oxygen, air, vacuum, electrical outlets, data ports, lighting, and nurse call buttons near the patient’s bed. To reduce clutter, improve safety, and organize equipment, these services are integrated in a wall unit behind a patient’s bed. ER and ICU headwalls are compact to optimize the limited patient bed assignment. PR headwalls are larger. In addition to the medical care PR headwalls are incorporated into the room’s interior design to provide a positive and healing atmosphere.

Studies in effective patient healing originated with Florence Nightingale. Her 1850s research on enhanced patient recovery contributed to environmental factors like fresh air, quiet, lighting, warmth, and clean water. Her findings were a revelation in their time. In 1993 the Center for Health Care was established to formally advance Evidence Based Design (EBD) that incorporates research studies, in-depth interviews with staff and patients, to compile outcome data to create a more effective healing environment. The data is added to the construction or renovation of facilities to improve patient, staff, and organizational outcomes.

Successfully incorporating the interior design of a hospital patient room headwall requires more than the simple transfer of materials from the corridor into the room. Headwalls are designed to hide, yet provide easy access to medical gases, electrical outlets, and data ports. Their exact location in the wall from room to room is essential for caregivers immediate response to a patient’s critical condition. Having the exact locations around the head of the patient’s bed eliminates critical time delays seeking medical devise.

Behind patient headwall installations are critical utility conduits. When the critical care utilities are within the existing room wall, their outlets are fixed to the wall structure and mounted through the wall substrate. The decorative wall hardware, and panels fix to the wall structure. If the existing wall cavity cannot receive the addition of headwall utility conduits a new wall cavity is constructed on site by the contractor.

Both the direct wall application and new cavity wall installations use unique hardware to support the decorative panels and utility outlets. Direct wall hardware must be installed square, level and plumb to ensure all service outlets are flush and decorative panels perfectly aligned. If the existing wall has surface defects there are two ways to mount hardware. One, individual headwall rails will require shims to ensure exact horizontal and vertical hardware alignment. Shimming hardware on irregular wall surfaces is a time-consuming task that delays the room availability and contributes to noise that will disrupt an active hospital environment.

A more accurate headwall installation over irregular surfaces with reduced installation is a square, level, and easy to plumb web frame that eliminates the need for extensive shimming. Another advantage of the web is it can be pre-assembled offsite to reduce on site installation time, reducing hospital disruption.

If the headwall requires a new utility chase, there are two ways to achieve it. A contractor can build the case wall with traditional metal studs and drywall. This direction will disrupt an active hospital with noise, dirt, and multi-trade scheduling issues. A better alternative is for the contractor to pre-assemble webs off-site, then install the web utilizing angle bracket extensions that will adapt to any chase depth. This extension method provides a 100% open utility chase for critical outlet conduits.

While the web assemblies support utility outlets, they are also the frame to fix the decorative panels with either cleats, clips or face fastens. Since the web is perfectly square, level, and plumb, the fixed panel intersections perfectly align and are flush across the site lines.

Patient headwall critical care services reduce clutter, improve safety, and organize equipment. Patient room headwalls that incorporate interior design aesthetics provide a healing environment first discussed by Florance Nightengale and proven by evidence-based design (EBD) studies. The web frame installation for direct wall and cavity wall installations are the most accurate methods to achieve perfect utility and decorative panel installation.

Examples of direct wall and cavity web frame layouts and the variety of decorative panel attachment components are available on averve.com.