Design for Healthcare Facilities Design for Healthcare Facilities. Cynthia McCullough, RN, MSN, Editor. (2009), Sigma Theta Tau International, Indianapolis, IN. 252 pages. ISBN 978-1-930538-77-1Sigma Theta Tau has done a great service for healthcare and evidence-based design (EBD) by publishing this book aimed primarily at nursing leaders, though all members of an interdisciplinary design team will find it helpful. As Stichler (2007a; 2007b) and Lamb, Connor, and Ossmann (2008) have argued, nursing can and should play an essential role in the EBD process. Nurses have intimate knowledge of the detailed work processes as well as the emotional moments encountered by patients and families dealing with anxiety, pain, and suffering that are so often part and parcel of disease and its treatment within healthcare settings. By participating in the EBD process, nurses can play an important role, helping to minimize and eliminate elements that contribute to unnecessary patient and family discomfort and healthcare costs, while also fostering the creation of supportive, restorative work spaces, teamwork, and innovation.Cynthia McCullough, lead author and editor, is vice president, senior healthcare consultant, and director of clinical services for HDR, an architecture, engineering, and consulting company, and an experienced hospital nurse manager with Lean healthcare certification. She has assembled a team of colleagues with similar working backgrounds and experience in healthcare and architecture to write this useful, pragmatic book.Chapter 1, Evidence-Based Design, introduces the topic, its importance, and opportunities for nurses within the EBD process. Chapter 2, Aesthetics and New Product Development, provides an excellent discussion with good supporting research regarding aesthetics, on- and off-stage spaces, themes, positive distraction, lighting, color, wayfinding, and innovative methods to work with vendors to design new products.Chapter 3, Healing Environments, presents five principles necessary to create healing environments and some aligned design elements effective in reducing stress for patients, families, and caregivers. A checklist for assessing the presence of these elements, as well as sample vision statements to establish the organizational culture, is shared.In Chapter 4, Family- C entered Care, poignant personal memories from the lead author regarding unpleasant childhood hospitalizations are shared; one understands better her resulting passion and dedication to improving healthcare environments.Chapters 5 and 6, Benchmarking and Efficiency, are exceptionally well done. They provide detailed, illustrative methods from Lean and Six Sigma, including process improvement tools that can maximize the opportunity available through new healthcare construction to redesign work processes. These chapters will have particular appeal for architectural planning designers, management engineers, and quality/patient safety officers.Chapter 7, Sustainability, is also well done. The elements of sustainable building and healthcare operations and their resulting impact are presented in a clear, effective manner. Tools and resources for up-to-date sustainable design information are included.Chapter 8, Transitions, emphasizes the importance of sticking to the guiding principles established for a project, as well as the golden opportunity to change organizational culture that new hospital construction affords. …