The role of physical design and informal communication

• Members of the Cornell research team “shadowing” (i.e., following at a distance) new nurse
graduates such as yourself a few days a week for two hours at a time during a twelve hour shift
while you work, recording the tasks that you perform as well as with whom you interact on a
PDA (like a Palm Pilot) programmed for this form of data collection. In no way will the
shadowing interfere with your work, and all recorded data will remain confidential.
• An evaluation of the physical qualities (e.g., the design, layout) of your work setting such as
the nurse station, break and lounge areas, and even the general building itself so that we can
better understand and describe the physical setting in which you work.
• Access to the initial self-assessment form and weekly evaluation sheets (completed jointly by
both yourself and your preceptor), which are both components of the regular orientation
program. As with all other data collected, this information will be kept strictly confidential
and confidential in all presentation and reports of the study.
Voluntary Participation: Your participation in this study is entirely voluntary and
you may refuse to participate in part or all of the study, or discontinue participation at
any time without penalty. Your decision about whether or not you participate in the
study will not affect your current or future relationship with Cornell University or
Crouse Hospital.
Risks and Benefits: We do not anticipate any risks to you participating in this study
other than those encountered in the day-to-day routine of a new nurse.
There are no direct benefits to you other than that of contributing to the scientific
knowledge in this field. The degree of stress experienced by new nurses is well
documented and we hope to better understand how multiple factors in the work
environment of new nurse graduates contribute to their health and well being. We do
expect that the results of this research will contribute to the growing body of
knowledge of evidence-based design that is helping transform hospital design.
Alternatives:
1. If you decide that you don’t want to participate in certain aspects of the study
you may still participate in the aspects of the study for which you provide
consent.
2. If, at any point during the study, you decide to withdraw from part of the study,
you can continue with the remaining aspects of the study as originally planned.
Costs/Payments: As partial compensation for your time, we will offer you a $50 gift
certificate at the Carousel Mall for completion of the blood pressure and survey
components of the data collection. Additionally, you will receive seven $2 vouchers to
be used at the Crouse cafeteria. We will also provide you a summary of our study
results when the project is completed. There will be no costs to your for participating.
Confidentiality. The records of this study will be kept private. We will assign an ID
number to each participant, so that we can relate different sources of data collected
(e.g., interaction data and survey responses) to each other. The list linking the ID
number to names will be seen only by the Cornell research team and will be kept in a
locked file cabinet at Cornell University. In any presentation or report of the study
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