title: Planning, Designing, Building, and Moving a Large Volume Maternity Service to a New Labor and Birth Unit: Commentary and Experiences of Experts.
abstract: Three teams of perinatal expert nurses participated in planning and designing a new maternity unit, operationalizing the move to the new space, and evaluating care processes and workflows after the move. The hospitals involved were University of California, San Francisco Benioff Children's Hospital, Prentice Women's Hospital of Northwestern Memorial Healthcare in Chicago, IL, and Florida Hospital Orlando, Florida Hospital for Women. Although each team discussed specific details and lessons learned, there is remarkable consistency among the experiences of these teams and with the discussion of the process by the team at Mercy Hospital St. Louis published in this issue of MCN The American Journal of Maternal Child Nursing. Extensive planning, flexibility, involving key stakeholders, evaluating and simulating workflows, and adequate staffing and patient safety on move-day were reported to be essential to success. Reevaluation after settling in to the new unit and making changes as needed were discussed. Being part of the leadership team involved in planning and moving to a new maternity unit in what was likely a once-in-a-lifetime experience was viewed as a career highlight. Their commentary adds to what is known about planning and designing new maternity units, moving into the new space, and adjusting unit operations and care after making the new unit home.
authors.affiliation: Diane VonBehren is the Director of Perinatal Services, UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, San Francisco, CA. Molly M. Killion is a Perinatal Clinical Nurse Specialist, Birth Center, UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, San Francisco, CA. She can be reached via e-mail at molly.killion@ucsf.edu Carol Burke is a Perinatal Outreach Educator, Loyola University Perinatal Center, Maywood, IL. Carol Burke was the Perinatal Clinical Nurse Specialist at Prentice Women's Hospital in Chicago, IL, during the processes of planning, designing, and moving to the new hospital in 2007. Betsy Finkelmeier is a Healthcare Leadership Consultant, Health Care Consulting Services. Besty Finkelmeier was Director of Women's Health at Prentice Women's Hospital in Chicago, IL, during the processes of planning, designing, and moving to the new hospital in 2007. Brigit Zamora is the Director of Nursing, Women's Services, Florida Hospital Orlando, Orlando, FL.
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: VonBehren
authors.forename: Molly M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Killion
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Burke
authors.forename: Betsy
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Finkelmeier
authors.forename: Brigit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zamora
mesh_terms: D002140:California; D004779:Environment Design / Q000592:standards*; D005160:Facility Design and Construction / Q000379:methods*; D005431:Florida; D006749:Hospital Design and Construction / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D000068101:Maternal-Child Health Services / Q000639:trends*; D008923:Missouri; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D000078329:Workforce