A Nightingale ward is a type of
hospital ward that contains one large room without subdivisions for
patient
A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other hea ...
occupancy. It may have side rooms for utilities and perhaps one or two side rooms that can be used for patient occupancy when patient isolation or patient privacy is important. Nightingale wards contain about 24 to 34 beds, usually arranged along the sides of the ward. Modern wards tend to separate patients into bays, each usually containing 4 to 6 beds. Observation of patients by nursing staff tends to be easier in a Nightingale ward than in bays. In one study, 75% of patients preferred being nursed in a bay than in a Nightingale ward.
The Nightingale ward was named after the pioneer of modern nursing,
Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War, i ...
.
References
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Types of hospitals
Nursing