Implementing human factors in clinical practice.

OBJECTIVES: To understand whether aviation-derived human factors training is acceptable and useful to healthcare professionals. To understand whether and how healthcare professionals have been able to implement human factors approaches to patient safety in their own area of clinical practice. METHODS: Qualitative, longitudinal study using semi-structured interviews and focus groups, of a multiprofessional group of UK NHS staff (from the emergency department and operating theatres) who have received aviation-derived human factors training. RESULTS: The human factors training was evaluated positively, and thought to be both acceptable and relevant to practice. However, the staff found it harder to implement what they had learned in their own clinical areas, and this was principally attributed to features of the informal organisational cultures. CONCLUSIONS: In order to successfully apply human factors approaches in hospital, careful consideration needs to be given to the local context and informal culture of clinical practice.

Learning the lessons of moving education online.

Education providers across the world are transferring course delivery from face-to-face to online methods. This article reports on a New Zealand college's experience of transferring a course on nursing research to online delivery, and on an evaluation of the initiative from the perspective of student experiences and achievements. The results and discussion contain lessons for any education providers considering moving courses to online delivery.