
Human factors engineering (HFE) approaches can provide important insights into improving patient safety during medication delivery processes. HFE provides guidance on how to model existing processes, which can identify features that are particularly brittle and therefore could be targeted for intervention. The recent use of a Systems Theoretic Process Analysis to identify hazards and controllers within the anaesthesia medication use process is one such example of the value of HFE modelling. However, the complexity of the anaesthesia system leaves no model capable of fully encapsulating all hazards or dangers. Therefore, we must use various HFE models to illustrate and bring understanding to different components of the anaesthesia system. The Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) model is one such HFE modelling approach that represents the complexities of healthcare systems by describing these systems using the following interacting overarching components: people, tasks, tools, organisation, physical environment, and external environment. Using the SEIPS 2.0 framework, we developed a model to describe the anaesthesia medication delivery process that provides new insight into potential areas ripe for intervention.
Citation:
Coppola, S. M., Neyens, D. M., Catchpole, K., Gurses, A. P., Osei, P., Biro, J. M., Alfred, M., Rucks, M., Tobin, C. D., Jaruzal, C., & Abernathy, J. H. (2022). Systems engineering-based framework of process risks in perioperative medication delivery. British Journal of Anaesthesia, 129(6), e168–e170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bja.2022.09.004