Improving Performance and Safety in the Management of Acutely Ill Patients: A Human Factors Approach

Human factors and patient safety are undoubtedly key issues within acute medicine, and research investigating adverse events in environments such as critical care and surgery has shown the majority of events are caused by preventable error. Principles that have been used to great effect by human factors specialists to manage error within other complex domains (eg civilian aviation, nuclear power generation, military operations) have been adopted into healthcare with varying degrees of success. In recent years there has been a huge increase of human factors research conducted within healthcare, with the importance of such work being clearly recognised and requested by regulators, healthcare staff, health service researchers and medical research funding bodies. Drawing on the great volume of healthcare-specific and broader research, this book provides clinicians and patient safety researchers with a quick and easy-to-read reference book on how to identify, manage and mitigate human factors issues in the management of acutely ill patients treated in multiple specialities. It deals directly with critical care medicine, accident and emergency, trauma, high-dependency, anaesthesia, surgery and other high-risk settings. By combining expertise in human factors and acute medicine, the authors have created an accessible book which is solidly grounded in current human factors theory and also offers valuable reflections from real-life practice in acute medicine. Ultimately it will assist clinical staff across disciplines to identify methods for monitoring and improving the delivery of care provided by healthcare teams to patients, and to aid their consideration on areas for self-development (eg non-technical skills).

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About the Author :
Dr. Tom Reader is a Lecturer in Organisational and Social Psychology at the London School of Economics (LSE). He teaches on decision-making and teamwork in organisational settings. Tom's research investigates and applies organisational, social and cognitive psychology theory to high-risk work setting (e.g. emergency medicine, oil and gas, aviation). In particular, Tom researches the relationship between non-technical skills (e.g. decision-making, teamwork, leadership) and human error/performance. Tom's specialist field is the topic of medial error and patient safety in the provision of critical care medicine, and he has published and spoken widely on the subject. Tom has also researched and consulted widely for major companies in the energy , aviation and public transport industries on the topics of safety culture, risk perception, stress, decision-making, teamwork, and leadership. Tom received a PhD and MA (First class) in Psychology from the University of Aberdeen. He has previously worked in the oil and gas industry, and is a former risk advisor to the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). Tom is a chartered member of the British Psychological Society (BPS), and has previously held a prestigious Leverhulme Trust post-doctoral fellowship. Dr. Paul O'Connor joined the Centre for Innovation and Structural Change at the National University of Ireland, Galway as a Research Methodologist in July 2010. He received his B.Sc. (Hons) in Psychology from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, M.Sc. in Research Methods in Psychology from the University of Strathclyde, Scotland, and Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Aberdeen. He was a Research Psychologist in the U.S Navy for eight years. His served as: a Research Psychologist and Experimental Diver at the Navy Experimental Diving Unit, Panama City, Florida; Psychology Instructor at the Navy/Marine Corps School of Aviation Safety, Pensacola, Florida; and Assistant Professor at the Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, California. His research is concerned with human performance in high risk environments from the perspective of the individual, team, and organisation. He has authored more than 70 publications, including two books (Safety at the Sharp End, Ashgate, and Human Performance Enhancements in High-risk Environments, ABC-Clio) He is a member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Aviation Psychology and a reviewer for a number of other safety and human factors journals. Professor Julian Bion (MBBS MRCP FRCA FRCA MD) is Professor of Intensive Care Medicine at the University of Birmingham (UoB), honorary consultant in ICM at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, and Co-Director of R&D, deputy director of the Birmingham Clinical Research Academy. In October 2010 he was elected Foundation Dean of the new Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine for the UK. As member of the Intercollegiate Board for training in ICM he led the group which wrote the first competency-based training programme for ICM in 2001. As President of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (2004-6) he established the European Critical Care Research Network, co-founded an international collaborative research group into the genetics of sepsis (GenOSept) funded by the FP6 programme, and leads an international collaboration funded by the Leonardo Programme which has developed an international competency-based training programme for ICM (www.CoBaTrICE.org). He is the senior clinical lead for the DoH-funded NPSA 'Matching Michigan' project (2009-2011) to minimise infections linked to central venous catheters in ICUs throughout England. In 2004 he was presented with the Shubin-Weil award for Excellence by the Society of Critical Care Medicine. He gave the Gilston lecture and received honorary membership of the Intensive Care Society in 2009. He is the author of numerous scientific articles, reviews, and one textbook. His research interests include quality improvement and patient safety in acute care, the pathogenesis and prevention of multiple organ failure, and education.