In just a few years, the roles of medical and surgical practitioners have undergone a major transformation, owing to developments in a new generation of advanced technologies such as surgical robotics, virtual reality simulators and e-learning. Although unfortunately the end users, practitioners and specialists, are often ignored during the design and development process, sometimes with serious consequences. It is often assumed that a high tech approach to the design of information technology systems will always provide a robust, reliable solution. But what is really needed is one that is more focused on the needs of the human in the design of medical equipment, systems and processes.
Why use ergonomics in healthcare?
- Understanding human limitations early in the development of medical devices can reduce errors and avoid performance problems exacerbated by stress and fatigue.
- Using ergonomics in a design process can reduce the costs of procuring and maintaining products.
- Ergonomics can minimise the incidence of injury or longer term malaise from poor working environments.
- An ergonomics task analysis can help identify key components of surgical skill, ensuring that students have affordable, appropriate, valid, and reliable training.
Research carried out in the US suggested that more people die in the United States each year from medical errors in hospital than those dying from road traffic accidents, breast cancer or even AIDS. The US Food and Drug administration has stated that although many of these fatalities cannot be attributed to human errors involving medical equipment or systems, some certainly can be. These findings suggest a gap in the consideration of the user in the design of the medical equipment or systems.
“Designing an operating room of the future, which will optimise the newest developments in surgery, requires much more than plugging in the new technologies. We are approaching the re-design at a systems level: how will different disciplines and different technologies work together to provide the best patient care environment?” David Rattner, Director, US center for integration of medicine and innovative technology.
One unique example of the application of ergonomics to healthcare is the use of task analysis techniques in support of designing surgical simulators. For example, the successful and British-designed keyhole surgical skills trainer MIST (Minimally Invasive Surgical Trainer), for many years marketed by the Swedish company Mentice and a mandatory component of training at the European Surgical Institute, owes its existence to task analyses performed in the operating theatre by an ergonomist. More recently, similar techniques were instrumental in defining the content and interaction styles for the Interactive Trauma Trainer ‘serious game’, developed in collaboration with the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine.
Despite the success of ergonomics in many areas, it has yet to make a major contribution to healthcare. The successful application or adoption of ergonomics demands commitment and participation from all levels of a healthcare organisation. The formation of an active ergonomics or human-centred design programme within a medical setting is neither an onerous nor a costly task, and distinctly less than the potential costs and consequences of ignoring the human factor for health service staff and patients alike.
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