Human Factors in a Healthcare Environment
Learn how the study of human factors can reduce error in healthcare with this course for healthcare professionals.
Duration
3 weeksWeekly study
3 hours
Human Factors in a Healthcare Environment
Discover how understanding human factors can improve patient safety
Human factors is the study of how humans behave and interact with each other and their surroundings. It considers how humans interact in the workplace and how, due to the inevitability of human error, mistakes are likely to occur.
On this course you will look at human factors in a healthcare environment, an area where it is vital to limit mistakes because human error can affect patient safety. You will learn about systems that pre-empt the inevitability of human error and can help improve clinical practice and patient safety as a whole.
Syllabus
Week 1
The Basic Principles of Human Factors
Introduction to the course
An introduction to the course and an opportunity to meet the team responsible for your learning
Introduction to human factors
Exploring the concept that human error is inevitable and how by embracing this fact we can foster an effective learning environment to improve safety
Cognitive Topics
Having an awareness of how cognitive topics can affect all of us within the workplace as well as day to day life, will allow us to have a clearer understanding of how error can occur
Week 2
Application of Human Factors to Healthcare
Introduction to Week 2
Introducing Week 2 of the course which is designed to take the fundamental topics we covered in Week 1 and apply them within the context of healthcare
Human factors in healthcare
We learn that an understanding of human factors coupled with improving our safety culture within the healthcare industry could lead to significant improvements in patient safety
Communication
The UK Health and Safety Executive suggests human failure is the cause for 80% of all accidents across all sectors including healthcare with communication, or more often a breakdown in communication, cited as a contributor
Applying human factors in healthcare
Although human factors in healthcare is still in its infancy we can look at transferable examples from other industries for inspiration
Week 3
Implementing Change - Creating a Safety Culture
Introduction to Week 3
In the final week of the course we look at how we can create and improve a safety culture within healthcare using our understanding of human factors and error
Error reporting in healthcare
Error reporting in healthcare
Implementing change
Using our newly gained knowledge on human factors what changes could be implemented to our daily and working life practices to attempt to reduce human error
End of course activities
End of course feedback
When would you like to start?
Start straight away and learn at your own pace. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.
Available now
What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...
- Develop an awareness of human error and how this can affect clinical performance
- Describe the different cognitive categories under the umbrella term of human factors
- Discuss the importance of effective communication within healthcare
- Develop an effective and open safety culture within everyday practice
Who is the course for?
This course is for healthcare professionals of all levels, but many of the topics discussed are transferable across other industries.
Who will you learn with?
Lecturer in Operating Department Practice at the school of Health Sciences, University of East Anglia.
Interests include clinical simulation, human factors and patient safety.
Professor of Public Health & Medical Education, Norwich Medical School; Lifelong Learner; Supervisor & Mentor; ‘early adopter’ but advocate of pedagogy before technology. Twitter: @vcrodrigues_uea
Who developed the course?
UEA (University of East Anglia)
The University of East Anglia is an internationally renowned university providing top quality academic, social and cultural facilities to over 15,000 students from over 100 countries around the globe.
Learning on FutureLearn
Your learning, your rules
- Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps, but you can complete them as quickly or slowly as you like
- Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
- Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores
Join a global classroom
- Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
- Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
- Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others
Map your progress
- As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
- Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
- Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate
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