Anestezjologia Intensywna Terapia

Abstract

3/2021 vol. 53
Review paper

Human factors and ergonomics to improve performance in intensive care units during the COVID-19 pandemic

Valentina Della Torre 1
,
Flavio E. Nacul 2
,
Peter Rosseel 3
,
Heather Baid 4
,
Kaushik Bhowmick 5
,
Piotr Szawarski 6
,
Tapas K. Sahoo 7
,
Tughan Utku 8
,
Adrian Wong 9
,
Manu L.N.G. Malbrain 10, 11
  1. Adult Intensive Care Unit, Imperial College Healthcare, NHS Trust, St. Mary’s Hospital, London, United Kingdom 
  2. Critical Care Medicine, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Surgical Critical Care Medicine, Hospital Pró-Cardíaco, Rio de Janeiro-RJ, Brazil 
  3. University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
  4. School of Health Sciences, University of Brighton, Brighton, United Kingdom
  5. West Suffolk, NHS Foundation Trust, Bury St. Edmunds, United Kingdom
  6. Wexham Park Hospital, Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, Slough, United Kingdom
  7. Department of Critical Care Medicine, Medanta Hospital, Ranchi, India
  8. Medical School, Yeditepe University, Istanbul, Turkey
  9. King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom
  10. International Fluid Academy, Lovenjoel, Belgium
  11. Faculty of Engineering, Department of Electronics and Informatics, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium
Anestezjologia Intensywna Terapia 2021; 53, 3: 265–270
Online publish date: 2021/10/27
View full text
The COVID-19 pandemic has tested the very elements of human factors and ergonomics (HFE) to their maximum. HFE is an established scientific discipline that studies the interrelationship between humans, equipment, and the work environment. HFE includes situation awareness, decision making, communication, team working, leadership, managing stress, and coping with fatigue, empathy, and resilience. The main objective of HF is to optimise the interaction of humans with their work environment and technical equipment in order to maximise patient safety and efficiency of care. This paper reviews the importance of HFE in helping intensivists and all the multidisciplinary ICU teams to deliver high-quality care to patients in crisis situations.

Keywords

COVID-19, pandemic, intensive care, human factors, resilience, leadership

Share