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The importance of applying human factors to nursing practice
Beverley Norris Human factors lead, National Patient Safety Agency, London, Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, Royal College of Art, London
Lynne Currie Project manager, Evaluating and Improving, Quality, Standards and Innovation Unit, Learning and Development Institute, Royal College of Nursing, London
Caroline Lecko Patient safety lead (secondment), Learning and Development Institute, Royal College of Nursing, London
The aim of this series is to introduce the topic of human factors and to show how it can be used in nursing practice on the ward and in nursing management, to improve the safety of patient care. Human factors can be used to make many aspects of working life easier, and if it is easier to do it is less likely to go wrong. This article discusses the importance of human factors in nursing and provides some practical suggestions on how to apply the principles of human factors. Forthcoming articles will examine human factors tools, surgical safety and human reliability in more detail.
Nursing Standard. 26, 32,36-40. doi: 10.7748/ns2012.04.26.32.36.c9044
Correspondence Peer reviewThis article has been subject to double blind peer review
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