Hospitals and healthcare facilities can be gloomy places, but with the right graphics you can make them more cheerful for patients and visitors year round. Doctors, nurses and staff members work around the clock to provide the best care to patients and visual communications can aid in making the healthcare experience better for everyone involved, especially during the holidays when most people would rather be home with friends and families. From wayfinding hospital signs for holiday events to floor and wall and floor graphics to make the children's ward more festive, visual communications can spread more holiday cheer throughout your healthcare facility.
Wayfinding Signage for Events
Wayfinding hospital signage is an essential component of any healthcare facility. Especially for senior citizens and people with poor vision, well-executed, legible directional signage could keep them from being lost in the long hallways of a healthcare facility. You will need wayfinding signage to identify, direct, regulate access and provide information. To coincide with the holidays, consider replacing some normal signs with more seasonal pieces. Fun signs saying things like "Santa's Helpers," pointing to your nurses' station or "Holiday Refreshments, This Way," directing patients and visitors to your cafeteria can go a long way in spreading holiday cheer throughout your hospital or healthcare facility. Of course, all technical and emergency wayfinding signage should remain unaltered.
Digital Signage and Interactive Kiosks
Digital signage for healthcare shows patients and visitors that your hospital or healthcare facility is up-to-date with the latest technology. Digital signage creates the opportunity to manage local messaging, target information to specific demographics, change information quickly, provide live news data and entertainment and disseminate multiple messages simultaneously.
During the holidays, your digital signage can depict scrolling messages of holiday well wishes and fun and festive interactive graphics, especially in areas catered to children. Stream holiday parades on your signage or play seasonal music while projecting a festive fireplace onto your digital sign. Advanced healthcare facilities use touchscreen digital systems to provide an interactive user experience with wayfinding and directions. With touch-enabled designs, patients and visitors can have a personalized path to their destination, a great asset for guests and visitors trying to navigate to your holiday party.
Exterior Holiday Décor
Exterior signs and graphics can spread cheer far and wide. Consider lighting up the façade of your building with festive lights or string them around trees. Exterior banners and signs can provide seasonal messaging and remind people to be safe during the holidays and to appreciate friends, family and their health all year. Outdoor holiday decorations can brighten someone's day before they even walk through your doors.
Safety Signage
Safety signage is one of your healthcare facility's first line of defense against accidents and liabilities. These signs should caution staff, patients and visitors about potential dangers and identify things like hazardous waste, radiation, used needles and other threats. Most healthcare facilities have regulations requiring the presence of signage to identify the presence of biohazard materials. Safeguard your employees, patients and visitors by presenting this information using safety signage. Be sure when adding holiday decorations like garland and tinsel you aren't obstructing any important safety signs. And if you're setting up a lighted Christmas tree in the lobby room, purchase an artificial tree that is also fire-resistant to avoid accidents. Discard holiday lights with frayed wires or broken sockets and hide all extension cords so they aren't visible in walkways.
Banners
Blood drives. Breast Cancer Awareness month. Flu shots. Your hospital or healthcare facility coordinates countless health events and you want to promote these throughout your facility, but banners are also a great opportunity to spread holiday cheer. Banners can provide information about festive events and get people into the holiday spirit. Moveable banner stands can be used to celebrate different happenings within distinct departments. If safety regulations prevent you from setting up a Christmas tree in your facility, consider using a standing banner with an illustration of a lighted tree and presents as a jolly standby. Promote a holiday food or toy drive and get staff involved.
Unique Ornaments
Design ornaments for your staff, patients and more during the holidays. Especially for children, this is a hands-on way to get them excited about the holidays even though they can't be at home. Nurses can take pictures with their patients and have them made into fun magnets or graphics to hang on a tree. Consider holding an event where parents and children can partake in making ornaments for your tree or decorations for their hospital room. By getting everyone involved and having them spend time together, you've shown them the true meaning of the holidays. This will make your patients feel not only like you care, but like they are a treasured part of your healthcare facility.
Wall and Floor Graphics
Spice up the walls and floors of your building with exciting graphics during the holidays and year round. Encouraging messages to patients can give them an extra push to keep fighting or give overworked staff members the reminder they need to keep providing the best care to their patients every day. Jovial wall graphics wishing "Season's Greetings" or "Happy Holidays" can welcome patients and guests and acknowledge the season of giving. Use floor graphics to make reindeer paw prints or Santa's footprints heading into the children's ward and get them excited about the holidays. These simple additions can really transform your healthcare facility into a winter wonderland.
Visual communications and hospital signage can create a more peaceful environment and a more pleasant experience for patients, staff and visitors during the holidays and all year. The abovementioned signs and graphics can easily make your hospital or healthcare facility a more cheerful place to be during the season of giving. Little touches can show your patients, staff and visitors how much you care.
