In response to the call for warmer, quieter, more humanizing and overall healthier healthcare environments, carpet is increasingly the flooring of choice – finding its way into a variety of areas from administrative spaces and waiting rooms to nursing stations, corridors and patient rooms. Given carpeting’s soothing design aesthetic and the health benefits it provides both patients and caregivers, it’s no surprise.

Cushioning Caregivers

As the healthcare industry continues to face increasing numbers of patients and a decreasing population of caregivers, healthcare flooring, such as carpet, is often selected to optimize for two conditions: maximum-underfoot comfort and/or minimum-rolling resistance to prevent lost-time injuries.

Studies have shown that certain types of luxury vinyl tile, rubber flooring and linoleum flooring that claim to be “anti-fatigue” may not necessarily meet those criteria. Results of these studies further show that certain carpet products, which might not be thought to have useful cushioning, actually do. 

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Two of the carpet examples, PVC-backed and thermoplastic-backed, have low-compression, un-cushioned-performance backings. Properties of the backing (density and thickness) and face fiber create useful anti-fatigue properties. This substantiates that cushion is not necessary for comfort when it comes to carpet. Also shown are results for a carpet with a thin attached urethane cushion, which possesses good anti-fatigue performance. But anti-fatigue performance without a cushion is essential to having underfoot comfort and manageable rolling resistance since, as shown, carpet with a cushion creates significantly higher rolling resistance.

Protecting Patients

No discussion of the benefits of carpet in healthcare facilities is complete without bringing up infection control. It has been widely believed that carpet in healthcare, tile or broadloom, harbors infectious microbes of all types. And it was further believed that the seams inherent to carpet tiles were certain to have high concentrations of microbes and be susceptible to leak-through by bio-contaminated spills. But research proves otherwise. One study that ultimately involved 90 facilities has shown that of all the surfaces found in healthcare – walls, floors, furniture, doors – flooring is the surface least likely to  be part of transmitting infections.[1] Other recent findings show that smooth, hard-flooring surfaces are much more likely to transmit infections than carpet surfaces.[2] One university study in a clinical setting found no higher concentration of microbes at carpet tile seams (on top of the tile, at the seam edges, and below the seam) than at any other point on any other type of flooring.[3]

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has recommended the use of carpet tiles or modular carpeting in those areas where carpet is necessary and where contaminated spills are a concern citing ease of removal, replacement and decontamination or disposal as the key reasons for this.[4]

Curtailing Airborne Noise

Aside from infection prevention, carpet also creates a better sound environment for patients to heal. In fact, carpet plays a critical role in keeping the sources of noise in healthcare, including equipment such as telephones, pagers, monitors and alarms, paging systems, wheeled equipment, TV speakers, pneumatic tube systems, ice makers, elevators and automatic doors, at a minimum.

Compared to the hard surfaces typically found in healthcare, such as luxury vinyl tile, rubber flooring, engineered flooring and VCT, carpet absorbs between 15–25 percent of airborne noise, compared to only 0-5 percent for the hard surfaces mentioned. Perhaps more important, carpet is especially effective in absorbing those frequencies common to background noise, which dramatically improves speech recognition. Carpet is similarly effective at reducing structure-borne sound. It usefully absorbs between 50–55 percent of structure borne sound compared to 20–25 percent for hard surfaced flooring.[4]

Good acoustics translate directly into better staff performance and patient outcomes. More than any other surface, carpet effectively absorbs background noise, loud disturbing sounds such as monitors, alarms, paging systems and cell phones, and structure-borne noise. All of these are disturbing and undesirable. They interfere with rest, which interferes with recovery. Only carpet provides acoustic management which, combined with good noise reduction programs, creates an environment favorable to good patient outcomes, and patient satisfaction as reflected in Press-Gainey exit surveys.

Healing Mother Earth

Carpeting not only benefits caregivers and patients, but it is also good for the environment. Today, there are multiple carpet solutions available that are certified by third-party environmental organizations, such as the Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI). There are also carpet options available that contain pre- and post-consumer content and have non-PVC thermoplastic modular backing technology that can be recycled back into itself.

Properly maintained, carpeting stays in use and out of the waste stream longer, contributing to lower life-cycle costs, saving healthcare facilities money. Furthermore, when product, installation and maintenance supplies and labor costs are considered over a 15-to 20-year period, carpet delivers lower life-cycle costs than other floor coverings. It is also important to note that a carpet’s life cycle may be extended if the carpeting features a permanent stain resistance system allowing for cleaning with water instead of harsher chemicals that are then emitted in the downstream wastewater treatment facilities.

Another benefit of carpet is its low volatile organic compound (VOC) levels improving the indoor air quality and lessening its impact on the environment. It has been found that carpet may emit the lowest levels of VOC among common flooring choices and is one of the lowest emitting products used in new construction and renovation, much lower than products such as paint.[5] To identify those selections that have been recognized as the most lowest emitting, look for the CRI Green Label certification.

Considering the advantages, including recyclability, cushioning, low-rolling resistance and infection control, it is clear why carpet is increasingly specified for progressive healthcare facilities. It is not only beneficial to patients and caregivers, but also the environment and the facility’s bottom line.


1.       Carling PC, Perry MF, et al. Identifying opportunities to enhance environmental cleaning in 23 acute care hospitals. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2008;29:1-7