Human Factors in Healthcare Blog

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Years ago, the most common question I got was, “where do I go to learn more about human factors engineering?”  The the length and breadth of my answer did evolve as more workshops and books (including our own) came on the scene.  Funny, very few people thought it was funny when I said that they could go back to school and get a masters degree in HFE in just a few short years!  I was only partially kidding, since I knew that some of the design or safety questions they would tackle could easily be major essay questions on graduate level tests – or even research theses.

Many people now ask different questions:  who should I hire?  where can I find them?  [These are harder questions, so I reminisce about the old days of the easier questions above.]  The question arises frequently enough, that we devoted part of a chapter in our recent book to this.

Simply stated, it is only a small problem to find people with masters degrees or PhDs in human factors engineering.  That is not enough.  They need one or more other qualities.  Below, and in the next 4 postings, I will describe and give examples of some of those needed qualities for an HFE and Medicine specialist:

1. Bartender
2. Bean-packing plant safety manager
3. Lifeguard
4. Set designer
5. Wilderness survival expert

Skills of a bartender (or, if you will, ombudsman) are key!  Your HFE will need to be able to listen, and listen, and listen.  Those 40 minutes of seemingly irrelevant stories are the needed lead-in for a patient to reveal the real problem they have with the device or medication delivery system.  The HFE needs to be trusted by the usability test participant clinicians when they see “interesting” usage of devices or medications.  They should have a ready supply of (NON-ALCOHOLIC) drinks and other pleasantries to set the stage for stressful design meetings.  Sometimes, especially during “last call”, they need to summon jaw-dropping honesty about bad things that might happen if the product goes “out” - and be willing to stand up to peer pressure.  Finally, be prepared to help out with lots of jobs, clean up messes, and know how to fix things on “the fly”.

In no particular order, here is what I learned this summer:

1. All cars sold to haul kids on vacation trips should have “glass wall” options like taxis to close off the back seat noise and shrapnel
2. If someone says they are car sick, it is better to stop and spend 5 minutes for a short walk than to clean vomit for 15 minutes
3. GPS systems can be wrong…really, really wrong:  “turn left onto the (non-existent) ferry”
4. Seemingly small wayfinding and other design flaws in hospitals can grow large when your friend or brother are sick
5. Medical residents are getting more and more savvy about patient safety (this is a good thing)
6. Medical residents are impatient with progress in patient safety (this is a great thing)
7. You can say you are going to write blog posts every week, then life happens

For those (still) reading my posts, I am going to upgrade the system to make sure you get announcements of my new posts.  For those about to read my posts, I am going to improve my marketing and networking to inspire me to continue my posts more regularly.