27 Apr How to Light Hospital Rooms: Thorn Lighting’s Guide to Proper Lighting for Hospitals
Which hospital rooms require specific types of lighting?
- Patient rooms
- Operating rooms
- Emergency rooms
- Imaging rooms
- Intensive care units (ICUs)
- Labor and maternity rooms
- Recovery rooms
Hospitals have several specialized rooms where specific tasks are done. Doctors use these rooms to diagnose, surgeons use them to operate, specialists use them to read tests or prescriptions, and patients use them to recuperate, rest, and recover. Because these rooms are places where various tasks are conducted, they need specific lighting that caters to the needs of the people at any specific time.
That’s where good lighting comes in. Here’s how to light hospital rooms according to the top LED lights supplier in the Philippines, Stealth Ventures.
Patient Rooms
Patient rooms often require a combination of ambient lighting and task lighting. Ambient lighting refers to the general illumination of a room or space that allows people to move around in it and perform basic tasks. On the other hand, task lighting is used for specific activities like reading or examinations—it’s specialized and differs with each task required.
Lighting in patient rooms is usually adjustable since the patients within could have different needs at specific times. Factors like brightness and color temperature can be modified to fit the patient’s or doctor’s preference.
Operating Rooms
If you’ve ever been in an operating room, you would know that their lighting is often very bright. This is to illuminate the whole surgical site without causing shadows or glare. Overhead surgical lights are often used, and can typically be moved or shifted to focus on specific areas of the surgical field.
Additionally, lighting in operating rooms is very sterile. This means that they are designed to be easily cleaned and disinfected, as well as to minimize the risk of contamination. The lighting can even be integrated with the ventilation system to ensure that the operating room’s air is clean as well.
Emergency Rooms
Similar to operating rooms, emergency rooms need to be brightly lit with overhead lighting that illuminates the entire space. In any emergency room, the speed and precision of doctors, nurses, and other healthcare personnel are extremely important, and the lighting reflects that.
Task lighting is also utilized in emergency rooms to ensure that specific tasks or procedures are done accurately and without error. This task lighting is usually provided by smaller, adjustable lights that can be positioned for additional lighting.
Imaging Rooms
Imaging rooms require specialized lighting that is adjustable to provide lighting conditions that are optimal for the diagnostic imaging being performed.
For example, MRI rooms require lighting that is shielded from electromagnetic interference. This lighting is typically low in intensity and can be controlled by a dimmer switch. CT scan rooms, on the other hand, require bright and uniform lighting. X-ray rooms need a combination of ambient and task lighting, similar to patient rooms, while ultrasound rooms also require ambient and task lighting, but the kind that doesn’t cause glare or interfere with the ultrasound tech.
Intensive Care Units (ICUs)
ICUs require well-balanced lighting—bright enough to allow healthcare professionals to monitor their patients and read diagnostic reports, but not so bright that it disrupts patients’ sleep or recovery. For this reason, the lighting is usually adjustable to allow for different levels of brightness.
Labor and Maternity Rooms
Lighting in labor and maternity rooms is also typically adjustable since the overall ambiance in these rooms ought to be comfortable and soothing for the expectant mother. It should also not be too bright.
Common lighting features in a labor or maternity room may include dimming controls, indirect lighting (a soft, diffuse light that helps create a calming and relaxing environment), natural light which is beneficial for the patient’s and her family’s health, task lighting, and low-level night lighting.
Recovery Rooms
Similar to labor and maternity rooms, recovery rooms require lighting that puts the patient at ease and allows them to recover quickly. Thus, they have similar features such as bright, uniform lighting, indirect lighting, natural lighting, and night lighting.
Recovery room lighting is usually soft and soothing to create a calm and comfortable environment for patients as they recover from surgery or other heavy treatments. The lighting can also be adjustable to allow patients to manipulate the brightness and color temperature to their preference.
Key Takeaway
In this article, we discussed how to light hospital rooms. We hope you were able to learn something and better understand why lighting in hospitals is the way it is.
Stealth Ventures recognizes the need for different kinds of illumination in various hospital rooms. That’s why they partner with local and global lighting manufacturers and providers like Thorn Lighting to provide the best lighting solutions to companies in the Philippines.
Contact Stealth Ventures today for lighting solutions that are versatile, high-quality, and compliant with international standards. We look forward to working with you!