Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Designing a Safer Intensive Care Unit

  • Chapter
Annual Update in Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine 2012

Part of the book series: Annual Update in Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine ((AUICEM,volume 2012))

  • 2250 Accesses

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to introduce the discipline of human factors as it can be applied to critical care medicine and designing a safer intensive care unit (ICU). Organizations including ICUs have recently been challenged with reducing the incidence and severity of adverse events and improving the quality and safety of care. We will illustrate how critical care medicine has begun to adopt human factor methods such as standardization of communication, checklists, and incident analysis from high-risk industries outside of healthcare.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Brennan TA, Leape LL, Laird N, et al (1991) Incidence of adverse events and negligence in hospitalized patients: results from the Harvard Medical Practice Study I. N Engl J Med 324: 370–376

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Leape LL, Brennan TA, Laird NM, et al (1991) The nature of adverse events in hospitalized patients: Results of the Harvard Medical Practice Study II. N Engl J Med 324: 377–384

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Kohn LT, Corrigan JM, Donaldson MS (2000) To Err is Human: Building a safer health System. Institute of Medicine, National Academy Press, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  4. Stelfox HT, Palmisani S, Scurlock C, Orav EJ, Bates DW (2006) The “To Err is Human” report and the patient safety literature. Qual Saf Health Care 15: 174–178

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. de Vries EN, Ramrattan MA, Smorenbury SM, Gouma DJ, Boermeester MA (2008) The incidence and nature of in-hospital adverse events: A systematic review. Qual Saf Health Care 17: 216–223

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Baker GR, Norton PG, Flintoft V, et al (2004) The Canadian Adverse Events Study: the incidence of adverse events among hospital patients in Canada. Can Med Assoc J 170: 1678–1686

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Reason J (1990) Human Error, 1st edn. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  8. St. Pierre M, Hofinger G, Buerschaper C (2008) The human factor: Errors and skills. In: St Pierre M, Hofinger G, Buerschaper C (eds) Crisis Management in Acute Care Settings: Human Factors and Team Psychology in a High Stakes Environment. Springer. Berlin, pp 4–15

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  9. Leape LL (2004) Errors are not diseases: they are symptoms of diseases. Laryngoscope 114: 1320–1321

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Chapanis A (1996) Human Factors In Systems Engineering. Wiley-Interscience, New York

    Google Scholar 

  11. Leape LL, Berwick DM, Bates DW (2002) What practices will most improve safety? Evidence-based medicine meets patient safety. JAMA 288: 501–507

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Camiré E, Moyen E, Stelfox HT. (2009) Medication errors in critical care: risk factors, prevention and disclosure. CMAJ 180: 936–943

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Reason J (2000) Human error: Models and management. BMJ 320: 768–770

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Armitage G (2009) Human error theory: relevance to nurse management. J Nurs Manag 17: 193–202

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Donchin Y, Gopher D, Olin M, et al (1995) A look into the nature and causes of human errors in the intensive care unit. Crit Care Med 23: 294–300

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Pronovost PJ, Thompson DA, Holzmueller CG, Lubomski LH, Morlock LL (2005) Defining and measuring patient safety. Crit Care Clin 21: 1–19

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Brindley PG, Reynolds SF. (2011) Improving verbal communication in critical care medicine. J Crit Care 26: 155–159

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Pronovost P, Berenholtz S, Dorman T, Lipsett PA, Simmonds T, Haraden C (2003) Improving communication in the ICU using daily goals. J Crit Care 18: 71–75

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Catchpole KR, De Laval MR, McEwan A, et al (2007) Patient handover from surgery to intensive care: using Formula 1 pit stop and aviation models to improve safety and quality. Paediatr Anaesth 17: 470–478

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Nagpal K, Arora S, Abboudi M, et al (2010) Postoperative handover: problems, pitfalls, and prevention of error. Ann Surg 252: 171–176.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Winters BD, Gurses AP, Lehmann H, Sexton JB, Rampersad CJ, Pronovost PJ (2009) Checklists — translating evidence into practice. Crit Care 13: 210–219

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Degani A, Wiener EL (1990) Human Factors Of Flight-Deck Checklists: The Normal Checklist (Tech. Rep. 177549). National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Moffett Field

    Google Scholar 

  23. Gawande A (2007). The checklist: If something so simple can transform intensive care, what else can it do? The New Yorker Dec 10, pp 86–95

    Google Scholar 

  24. Pronovost P, Needham D, Berenholtz S, et al (2006) An intervention to decrease catheterrelated bloodstream infections in the ICU. N Engl J Med 355: 2725–2732

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Haynes AB, Weiser TG, Berry WR, et al (2009) A surgical safety checklist to reduce morbidity and mortality in a global population. N Engl J Med 360: 491–499

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. de Vries EN, Prins HA, Crolla R, et al (2010) Effect of comprehensive surgical safety system on patient outcomes. N Engl J Med 363: 1928–1937

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Vicente K (2003) The Human Factor. Revolutionizing The Way People Live With Technology. Alfred A. Knopf, Toronto, pp 195–203

    Google Scholar 

  28. Frey B, Schwappach D (2010) Critical incident monitoring in paediatric and adult critical care: from reporting to improved patient outcomes? Curr Opin Crit Care 16: 649–653

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Beckmann U, West LF, Groombridge GJ, et al (1996) The Australian Incident Monitoring Study in Intensive Care: AIMS-ICU. The development and evaluation of an incident reporting system in intensive care. Anaesth Intensive Care 24: 314–319

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Needham DM, Thompson DA, Holzmueller CG, et al (2004) A system factors analysis of airway events from the Intensive Care Unit Safety Reporting System (ICUSRS). Crit Care Med 32: 2227–2233

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Hutchinson A, Young TA, Cooper KL, et al (2009) Trends in healthcare incident reporting and relationship to safety and quality data in acute hospitals: results from the National Reporting and Learning System. Qual Saf Health Care 18: 5–10

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Snijders C, Kollen BJ, van Lingen RA, et al (2009) Which aspects of safety culture predict incident reporting behaviour in neonatal intensive care units? A multilevel analysis. Crit Care Med 37: 61–66

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Mahajan RP (2010) Critical incident reporting and learning. Br J Anaesth 105: 69–75

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Woloshynowych M, Rogers S, Taylor-Adams S, Vincent C (2005) The investigation and analysis of critical incidents and adverse events in healthcare. Health Technol Assess 9: 1–143

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Cooper JB, Newbower RS, Long CD, McPeek B (1978) Preventable anesthesia mishaps: a study of human factors. Anesthesiology 49: 399–406

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Reader TW, Flin R, Mearns K, Cuthbertson BH (2009) Developing a team performance framework for the intensive care unit. Crit Care Med 37: 1787–1793

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Dodek PM, Raboud J (2003) Explicit approach to rounds in an ICU improves communication and satisfaction of providers. Intensive Care Med 29: 1584–1588

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Landry MA, Lafrenaye S, Roy MC, Cyr C (2007) A randomized, controlled trial of bedside versus conference-room case presentation in a pediatric intensive care unit. Pediatrics 120: 275–280

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Kim MM, Barnato AE, Angus DC, Fleisher LF, Kahn JM (2010) The effect of multidisciplinary care teams on intensive care unit mortality. Arch Intern Med 170: 369–376

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. M. Ferri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. H. T. Stelfox
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Intensive Care Erasme Hospital, Université libre de Bruxelles, Route de Lennik 808, B-1070, Brussels, Belgium

    Jean-Louis Vincent (Head) (Head)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Ferri, M., Stelfox, H.T. (2012). Designing a Safer Intensive Care Unit. In: Vincent, JL. (eds) Annual Update in Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine 2012. Annual Update in Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine, vol 2012. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-25716-2_74

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-25716-2_74

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-25715-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-25716-2

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation