Ward areas are a core part of any hospital or healthcare facility and must be able to support a wide range of activities, from treatment and monitoring through to recovery and patient rest. As such, the lighting in these areas must allow for different usage patterns and provide a great deal of flexibility.
Maximising the use of natural light is a priority in any wellness focused environment. The natural light cycle maintains our circadian rhythm and gives structure to the day. Additionally, a study published in 2018 showed that patients who were positioned closer to a window in the hospital ward typically had a shorter stay in the hospital than those who had beds away from a close source of natural light.
Planning a lighting system that complements the natural light so that both patient recovery and treatment needs are prioritised is important.
The lighting in hospital wards plays an essential role in patient recovery and wellbeing, and multiple factors should be considered when designing an appropriate ward lighting system for your patient’s needs.
The 2019 CIBSE Lighting for Healthcare Premises describes no less than 6 different lighting scenes that are applicable in bedded areas within a hospital including guidance on providing different lighting levels for patient activities, nightlights, examination periods, general care and watch lights for nighttime monitoring.
Whitecroft Lighting has developed a range of healthcare lighting solutions such as Florence+ and Nightingale that are designed to meet the standards required in hospital settings and allow us to create integrated lighting systems for ward areas that remove complexity and work as expected.
The most important factor in ward lighting is flexibility to reduce illumination levels to create lighting scenes that meet the needs of patients and staff.
Whether adjusting lighting levels for to allow comfortable rest while allowing staff to monitor patients at night, through to providing sufficient illumination for reading, examination, or treatment, the needs of a ward are complex.
Depending on the time of day, and patient status, different levels of illumination and colour rendering should be considered when designing ward lighting systems.
The CIBSE LG2 and BS-EN12464-1 documents set out the different lighting requirements for activities in the ward.
During the night and for periods of patient rest, the lighting level should be reduced for comfort. When patients are being monitored, the watch light should be between 15-20lux at the bed head, while the standard for a nightlight should be 0.5lux at the pillow to reduce lighting levels to a safe minimum.
Ward lighting should be human centric by putting patient wellbeing first. Low glare lighting reduces eyestrain and discomfort for patients, and this can be supplemented through both the positioning and choice of luminaires used in the system.
Where patients are spending significant time prone, lighting fixtures positioned directly above the bed will interrupt rest. Offset lighting above hospital beds provides strong illumination during examinations without creating discomfort. The use of diffusers rather than Pods reduces the amount of glare.
The use of smart lighting controls in ward areas can contribute to lower energy use. and improve patient comfort.
For improved efficiency, and to maximise the use of natural light, sensors that detect the amount of daylight illumination can be used to control the intensity of lighting used on the ward and be combined with timers that schedule lighting during examination periods. The use of motion detection in corridors surrounding ward accommodation can reduce unnecessary illumination in periods between nighttime rounds to reduce patient disturbance and improve rest quality.
The ability to create different lighting scenes that adjust colour temperature and light intensity allows the environment to be more comfortable for patients and promote rest while also providing sufficient illumination for monitoring and treatment as required.
Hygiene is important in all healthcare settings where infection control is a priority. Fixtures should be easy to clean, and IP rated to prevent points of ingress where pathogens can grow.
Luminaries used in hospitals should meet IP65 standards. This level of protection means that the fitting is totally protected against dust and is protected against low pressure jets of water from all directions. Exceeding these standards allows for regular cleaning without damage to the fittings.
Contact our specialist healthcare lighting team to learn more about sustainable, low energy smart lighting for hospital wards that use smart lighting controls to maximise daylight and reduce electricity consumption while adapting to patient and carer needs.
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