Using human factors engineering to improve the effectiveness of infection prevention and control.

Human factors engineering is a discipline that studies the capabilities and limitations of humans and the design of devices and systems for improved performance. The principles of human factors engineering can be applied to infection prevention and control to study the interaction between the healthcare worker and the system that he or she is working with, including the use of devices, the built environment, and the demands and complexities of patient care. Some key challenges in infection prevention, such as delayed feedback to healthcare workers, high cognitive workload, and poor ergonomic design, are explained, as is how human factors engineering can be used for improvement and increased compliance with practices to prevent hospital-acquired infections.

Harnessing hospital purchase power to design safe care delivery.

Since the Institute of Medicine's well-publicized 1999 report To Err is Human, the healthcare patient safety movement has grown at an exponential pace. However, much more can be done to advance patient safety from a care process design vantage point-improving safety through effective care processes and technology integration. While progress is being made, the chasm between technology developers and caregivers remains a profound void.

Nuts! I can't figure out how to use my life-saving epinephrine auto-injector!

Background: Epinephrine auto-injectors for food allergy emergency treatment is used as a case study to illustrate how human factors in device design has an impact on proper management of anaphylaxis. Because timely injection is so crucial, epinephrine comes in preloaded syringes or auto-injectors that patients can carry with them. However, many factors influence whether treatment is carried out properly.