Abstract
A model is presented to describe the evaluation of hospital wards by nurses. The model is developed using the principles of facet theory and its family of multivariate statistics. An environmental evaluation is taken as an assessment of the utility of a setting. It is proposed that to make an evaluation, people must rely on their conceptualisations of using the setting. The model is a description of people's conceptions about interacting with an environment. It is tested by examining the structure of the evaluations that emerge from such interactions. Three facets are proposed to describe the interaction between the nurses and the ward setting. The Referent facet describes the functions to be served by the environment; that is whether the activity being facilitated involves interaction with other people, the layout of the setting or the environmental services. The second facet describes the activities. A distinction is made between the Type of Patient Care being provided, namely direct or indirect. The third facet describes the Level at which the Interaction between the individual and the referent takes place. The four levels identified are observation, access, direct contact and preventing disturbances. Together the facets form a three-way classification system to describe environmental interactions. To test the model, a ward evaluation questionnaire is developed with each item containing an element from each of the facets. The data from 1921 completed questionnaires are analysed using a smallest space analysis (SSA-1) and the cylindrex structure predicted by the model retrieved. The model is used to draw implications for ward design, to develop a concise instrument for future ward evaluations, and to develop a system to illustrate the relationship between the evaluations and the physical characteristics of the wards. The model is also used to provide empirical support for previous work, and evidence is presented to suggest that the ward evaluation model may provide the basis for a more general theory of environmental evaluation.