Usability Testing of Situation Awareness Clinical Decision Support in the Intensive Care Unit.

Objective:  Our objective was to evaluate the usability of an automated clinical decision support (CDS) tool previously implemented in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) to promote shared situation awareness among the medical team to prevent serious safety events within children's hospitals.

Methods:  We conducted a mixed-methods usability evaluation of a CDS tool in a PICU at a large, urban, quaternary, free-standing children's hospital in the Midwest. Quantitative assessment was done using the system usability scale (SUS), while qualitative assessment involved think-aloud usability testing.

Use of design thinking and human factors approach to improve situation awareness in the pediatric intensive care unit.

Background: Optimal design of healthcare spaces can enhance patient care. We applied design thinking and human factors principles to optimize communication and signage on high risk patients to improve situation awareness in a new clinical space for the pediatric ICU.

Objective: To assess the impact of these tools in mitigating situation awareness concerns within the new clinical space.