Handbook of Human Factors and Ergonomics in Health Care and Patient Safety

Written for students and professionals, this book is a complete reference on human factors and ergonomics research, concepts, theories, models, methods, and interventions that have been or can be applied in health care. Topics such as medical technology and telemedicine are covered, and special emphasis is put on the contributions of human factors and ergonomics to the improvement of patient safety and quality of care. Nine chapters from the original edition were deleted, and information from them was incorporated into other chapters. Furthermore, this second edition offers 17 new chapters.

The first edition of Handbook of Human Factors and Ergonomics in Health Care and Patient Safety took the medical and ergonomics communities by storm with in-depth coverage of human factors and ergonomics research, concepts, theories, models, methods, and interventions and how they can be applied in health care. Other books focus on particular human factors and ergonomics issues such as human error or design of medical devices or a specific application such as emergency medicine. This book draws on both areas to provide a compendium of human factors and ergonomics issues relevant to health care and patient safety.

The second edition takes a more practical approach with coverage of methods, interventions, and applications and a greater range of domains such as medication safety, surgery, anesthesia, and infection prevention. New topics include:

• work schedules
• error recovery
• telemedicine
• workflow analysis
• simulation
• health information technology development and design
• patient safety management

Reflecting developments and advances in the five years since the first edition, the book explores medical technology and telemedicine and puts a special emphasis on the contributions of human factors and ergonomics to the improvement of patient safety and quality of care. In order to take patient safety to the next level, collaboration between human factors professionals and health care providers must occur. This book brings both groups closer to achieving that goal.