title: Positioning patient status monitors in a family waiting room.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine where to place patient status displays for family members in the operating room family waiting room at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
  
  
  METHODS
  We calculated the percentage of seats from which wall monitors placed in hypothetical positions would be usable. We validated the usability of the new monitors by observing nonemployees' use of monitors in the waiting room 1 week before and 1 week after implementation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared to the legacy monitor, the new monitors were observed to be used from more locations within the waiting room and more people were observed to use the new monitors soon after entering the waiting room.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Seemingly trivial decisions like where in a waiting room to place monitors can be informed by careful data collection and the consequences can observably impact communication between hospital staff and family members waiting for loved ones in surgery.
authors: Core Human Factors, Inc., Bala Cynwyd, PA, USA rebecca@corehf.com.
authors: Rebecca
authors: R
authors: Margolies
authors: Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA.
authors: Harshad
authors: H
authors: Gurnaney
authors: Core Human Factors, Inc., Bala Cynwyd, PA, USA.
authors: Marc
authors: M
authors: Egeth
authors: Core Human Factors, Inc., Bala Cynwyd, PA, USA.
authors: Nicole
authors: N
authors: Fink
authors: Core Human Factors, Inc., Bala Cynwyd, PA, USA.
authors: Jennifer
authors: J
authors: Soosaar
authors: Core Human Factors, Inc., Bala Cynwyd, PA, USA.
authors: Adam
authors: A
authors: Shames
authors: Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA.
authors: Mohamed
authors: M
authors: Rehman
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002673:Child, Hospitalized; D003142:Communication; D016288:Computer Terminals / Q000592:standards*; D003625:Data Collection; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D006272:Health Facility Environment; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric; D006801:Humans; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D009870:Operating Room Information Systems / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D015143:Philadelphia; D011368:Professional-Family Relations
keywords: font; hospital design; human factors; visual display; waiting room