Resources

A homelike atmosphere leads to quicker patient healing in a healthcare facility and happier, more comfortable residents in a senior living facility. When you think of healthcare furnishings, your mind may jump to the sterile, unattractive chairs, tables and patient beds of the past. Fortunately, Kwalu takes the practical and safe nature of traditional healthcare furnishings and blends it with high-end, beautiful design that patients, residents and care providers alike can enjoy.

 

Beautiful Design for Healthcare and Senior Living

Kwalu healthcare solutions include everything from patient room furniture like sleepers and recliners to waiting room furniture like guest chairs and tables. The brand is also a leading provider of senior living furniture. As such, they offer everything needed for this type of facility, including chairs, tables, casegoods and more. Styles come in a broad range so that you can design the exact look you want, from classic charm to modern trendsetter and everything in between. You can even work with NBF and Kwalu to design custom furniture that meets your specific needs. Configure products, options, and finishes for your unique facility or custom design every single item to fit your exact dimensions and resident needs. It's all possible with Kwalu!

 

Infection Control at Its Finest

In addition to its attractive design, Kwalu healthcare furnishings are also built to prevent the spread of infection. These products do not have surface joints or seams and do not support microbial growth, which are leading causes of Hospital Acquired Infections. Kwalu furniture can even withstand the harshest of cleaning regimens, including bleach. Combining the correct products and protocols ensures effective surface disinfection, reducing the risk of cross-contamination of pathogens for patients. The warm, wood-like framework on chairs and tables are actually constructed of a unique type of polymer to give the warm, comforting look of wood without the porous surface of it, making these options much less prone to the spread of infection.

 

Durable Furniture You Can Rely On

Not only that is this furniture beautiful and safe, but you won't need to worry about replacing your furniture anytime soon when you go with this product. Easy to clean and maintain, Kwalu senior living and healthcare furniture is beautifully designed and made of durable, high-impact polymer to resist dings, scuffs and even permanent marker year after year. Upholstery is easy-to-clean vinyl that's comfortable but tough, so you won’t be dealing with rips and tears even with heavy use. Your patients, residents and guests will be able to enjoy the warm look of wood, and your staff will be thrilled by the easy maintenance.

 

Ready to pick Kwalu healthcare and senior living furniture for your facility? Shop our selection of Kwalu healthcare products or call our furniture experts at (800) 558-1010 and we'll be happy to help you get started.

Brand Spotlights
Healthcare

More From NBF

The Complete Guide to Healthcare Seating Textiles

Whether you’re furnishing a new healthcare facility or replacing old furniture in a hospital or private practice, knowing your textiles is crucial to the well-being of staff and patients alike. To help make your purchasing experience as easy as possible, we’re breaking down the pros and cons of commonly used seating textiles. This list is ranked from worst to best in terms of appropriateness for a healthcare setting.

Fabric

Fabric is a woven textile that is not considered appropriate for healthcare settings. The major benefit of fabric is aesthetic: it comes in many color and pattern options. 

Although the appearance of fabric creates a welcoming, homey aesthetic that most medical facilities seek, the good far outweighs the bad in the case of this material. Because fabric is woven, it is porous—fluids can seep into the chair easily and become nearly impossible to remove. This creates an infection control nightmare as fabric will likely harbor bacteria and bedbugs. 

In addition to the health hazards associated with this textile, fabric is not durable enough to withstand regular use in a busy healthcare facility.

Benefits

  • Unlimited color and pattern choices

  • Welcoming, homelike aesthetic

Challenges

  • Porous

  • Not very cleanable or durable

  • Harbors bedbugs and bacteria

Crypton Fabric

Crypton fabric is specially manufactured with a fluid-resistant backing that makes it more like vinyl than the fabrics it so closely resembles. This textile has the same large range of color and pattern options as fabrics, but it’s much more acceptable for a healthcare setting as fluids cannot seep into the chair as they can with fabric. However, this material is still semipermeable and can hold unwanted odors. 

Crypton requires specific cleaners for regular maintenance, as it can degrade quickly if cleaned improperly, so staff must be well-trained on the correct cleaner to use on this material. This textile can also be expensive and is not the most durable option. Due to this, Crypton is often used on the backs of chairs in low-abuse settings such as private practices and senior living centers.

Benefits

 

  • Same range of color and pattern options as fabric

  • Fluid-resistant backing is healthier than fabric options

  • Good choice for chair backrests that receive less wear

Challenges

  • Semipermeable

  • Requires special cleaners and can degrade quickly if cleaned improperly

  • Expensive

  • Can hold odors

PVC-Free Vinyl

PVC-free vinyl is an impermeable and eco-friendly textile ideal for inpatient and acute care facilities. Because it’s PVC-free, this material emits no off-gas, making it a great choice where indoor air quality is a concern. In addition, this textile has a soft, comfortable feel. Unfortunately, the color palette is limited. Though relatively easy to clean, PVC-free vinyl is fragile and can degrade quickly and pucker if not maintained correctly.

Benefits

  • Impermeable

  • Emits no off-gas and is great for indoor air quality

  • Soft, comfortable feel

Challenges

  • Fragile and will degrade quickly if not properly cared for

  • Can pucker

  • Limited aesthetically—only solid colors are available

Vinyl

Like PVC-free vinyl, regular vinyl is commonly used in inpatient and acute care facilities, including typical hospital settings. Vinyl is also impermeable and Greenguard Certified for better indoor air quality, but this material is much more durable and easy to maintain. 

You should note that over-bleaching can lead to the breakdown of plasticizers (the additive used to make vinyl soft and pliable), and the stripping of plasticizers can lead to cracking and ripping that The Joint Commission will quickly write up as a violation. On the plus side, vinyl is available in a much wider range of colors and patterns than PVC-free vinyl. Bedbugs and bacteria contamination are less of a concern with this textile, though these may still thrive in the seams of the material.

Benefits

  • Impermeable

  • Greenguard Certified for better indoor air quality

  • Many patterns and colors available

  • Durable with good light resistance

  • Easy to clean (though this varies depending on manufacturer)

Challenges

  • Can degrade if over-bleached

  • Seams can harbor bedbugs and bacteria

IC+

Ideal for emergency departments, IC+ is the top-of-the-line choice for high-traffic hospitals that require the very best in durability and cleanliness. Healthcentric is the only company that manufactures IC+. The treatment is applied via a spraying technique rather than sewn. As a result, IC+ has no seams for bacteria and bedbugs to thrive in, making it the best choice to prevent the spread of infection. 

This material is also 10 times stronger than vinyl, completely impermeable, does not degrade, and has a very high abuse rate, making it ideal for busy emergency rooms that see patients with a vast range of ailments. Not only will this material not rip or crack, but it’s also safe to clean even with harsh bleaches. 

IC+ is truly the best option available for healthcare facilities, but it is worth noting that color options are limited, and this material is not the most comfortable for patients due to its durable build.

Benefits

  • 10 times stronger than vinyl

  • Does not degrade

  • Seamless design does not harbor bedbugs or bacteria

  • Highest abuse rate

  • Easy to clean

Challenges

  • Not the most comfortable

  • Very limited color palette

The Complete Guide to Healthcare Sleepers

Most hospitals provide an area in each patient room specifically designated as a family zone, wherein family members and friends are permitted to stay, whether it be for a few hours or overnight. The family zone of a patient room is located farthest away from the door and usually includes comfortable furniture to keep guests content when they need to be in the room for long periods. Sleeper chairs are often supplied so that friends and family can rest at the hospital when watching over their loved ones.

Types of Sleeper Chairs

Several styles of sleeper chairs and sofas are available. 

Pull-Out Sleepers

Pull-out sleeper chairs look similar to club chairs and have a seat that pulls forward to extend into a bed. The benefit to this type of sleeping chair is that it has a small initial footprint and is usually portable for easy cleaning. However, be sure your patient rooms have enough space for this type of sleeper to pull out all the way without impeding caregivers while they work. Because the clearance for these convertible chairs is much greater extended than when it’s closed up, you’ll need to make sure that healthcare providers can move around the sleeper while it’s pulled out in bed form.

Side-Opening Sleepers 

Side-opening sofa beds look similar to loveseats and contain a mattress that pulls out from the side, hence the name. Like pull-out sleepers in chair form, side-opening loveseat sleepers have a small initial footprint, but the room must accommodate the larger footprint that the unit takes up when used as a bed.

Daybed Sleepers 

Daybed sleepers look like sofas. This type of sleeper couch takes up no additional space in a room when used as a bed because it works via a flip-down back that is folded on top of the seat and then laid on.

Double Sleepers 

Most commonly used in pediatric hospitals, double sleepers are provided for parents who want to stay in the hospital with their child. This type of hospital sofa bed is usually pull-out style but twice the size of the average sleeper.

Questions to Ask Before Selecting Sleeper Sofas and Chairs

What will the room truly accommodate? Be honest about how much space you have to work in your patient rooms. You may prefer a pull-out sleeper, but if there isn’t enough clearance between the wall and the patient bed, a daybed sleeper could be a better option.

Are the walls protected? Many people don’t account for wall protection when selecting new furniture. Because they’re used for long hours at a time by hospital guests, sleepers can get moved around in a rough manner. To prevent scuffs on your patient room walls, opt for a sleeper with a wall-saver backrest design.

How will it be cleaned? When it comes to furniture, there are few things in a healthcare facility that are more important than cleanliness. Most sleeper couches are upholstered in healthcare-grade vinyl, which is antimicrobial and a breeze to keep clean. You may also want to look for a unit with a lot of replaceable parts, as these can be disassembled for more thorough cleaning. Make sure that the space where guests sit is separate from the space where guests will rest their heads to sleep.

Is storage needed? Caregivers can use storage underneath the sleeper to store pillows and blankets. It can also be a safe space for guests to keep personal belongings. Some patient rooms may already have space for these purposes, but if yours don’t, then choosing sleepers with built-in storage is probably the best option.

New Year, New Healthcare Furniture

With a new year comes new trends and new technology, and that's true for the healthcare industry, too. From the waiting room to the patient rooms and everything in between, we offer a huge selection of healthcare furniture for the whole building. Here are just a new of our newest healthcare collections for 2018.

0 Comments

Leave a Comment

Your comment has been sent.

Nicole Groshek

Nicole Groshek is the social media and content coordinator for National Business Furniture. She helps employees discover the true joy in loving what they do, from working in an inspiring office to having a little fun on the job.