Human Factors that Have an Impact on the Performance in Healthcare Organizations - Literature review Example

Patient Quality and Safety Name Institution Patient Quality and Safety Introduction Work performance in any organization is determined by factors resonating from human activities and non-human activities. As a means of achieving high standards of efficiency, organizations try to limit the influences that are likely to lower the performance index of employees. In doing so, human factors seem to be more complex than non-human factors. A lot of studies have been undertaken in various sectors with the aim of establishing the extent to which human factors influence work performance and how to be minimized. The magnitude of these factors definitely varies with the sector involved. For instance, the effects of these human factors in the health sector are more pronounced than it is in the education sector. This is basically because in the health sector, health practitioners are dealing with life of human beings. Therefore, how the worker discharges his/her responsibility has a greater bearing on the life of the patient. Such factors are very diverse and complex as well. At the same time, many will point to the consequence of human error as a key player to malfunctioning of critical operations or processes in a healthcare centers. In spite of the fact that human errors are almost inevitable, the management ought to understand that it is worth any cost that is incurred to ensure that patient safety and quality is assured. Literature Review Different intellectuals have taken time to explore on the various human factors that have an impact on the performance in institutions or organizations. Most of the authors seem to concur on key aspects of this topic. Nevertheless, variations arise with respect to the degree to which such factors affect performance. Attalenese & Duca (2012) are some of the authors that have explored into the issue of human factors as it relates to performance. It is clear that most of the issues highlighted are controllable to a larger extent. For instance, they point out issues like complacency and distraction as some of the factors that are common in lowering performance. The factors that have been identified above can be easily controlled by employees if they are willing to. Moreover, Karwowski (2012) brings forth the factors that are orchestrated by the management. According to him, the management in any organization plays a vital role in ensuring performance standards are maintained high. Nevertheless, the same management has failed to be real frontiers in achieving such standards. Failure to allocate resources as required is a factor that results into poor performance by the employees. Indeed such failures can be avoided in order to enhance performance. At the same time, biological factors of employees can affect performance at work place. For instance, stress, pressure and fatigue are key contributors to poor performance levels by the employees (Hunzuker, Tschan & Semmer, 2010). When employees are forced to work under stress because of the excess workload available, it risks their efficiency. This call for the required programs to be put in place to ensure employee is not exposed to such cases. One of the options of eliminating employee overworking is establishing rotational programs where employees work for a specific time then he/she is replaced. The Theory of Human Error According to human error theory, errors are considered inevitable. This theory is founded on the fact that wherever human beings are involved in a process, human errors will always take place. Human errors can be detrimental to patients in the hospitals. While elimination of human errors especially in healthcare could be a nightmare, the basic objective is reduction of the error to acceptable minimum (Armitage, 2009). It has to be understood that every single error by a health practitioner is a threat to the safety of the patient. Managers in healthcare organizations ought to ensure that measures are strategically designed to assist in understanding the specifics of some of these errors. Understanding the nature of the error lays a good platform that enables risk reduction or management with the main target of safeguarding the patient’s safety (Dean, Schachter & Vincent, 2008). The management should be progressively involved in all kinds of activities that will ensure that the practitioners are constantly trained where necessary. This will help deal with errors like lack of knowledge or awareness. It is the role of the management to ensure that employees in a healthcare institution meet the mental and psychological standards to be allowed to attend to patients. Patient Safety and Quality The ultimate goal of the health practitioners is to ensure patient’s safety and quality. Achieving quality standards by the healthcare providers implies obtaining optimal results in the prevailing health conditions and the environment of the patient. Attainment of quality in the healthcare setting can be marked by several indications. Some of those indicators include expression of health-promoting features, a feeling by the patient of being well cared for and proper handling of different types of patients (Charness & Tuffiash, 2008). On the other hand, ensuring patient safety simply implies that the patient is protected from harm. This involves prevention of errors and creating an atmosphere where healthcare professionals will avoid repetition of mistakes. Therefore, patient safety entails all factors that reduce risk exposure of the patient due to human error. Such practices are very diverse in nature. One of the practices is the use of maximum sterile barriers while placing central intravenous catheters to prevent infection. All the practices are targeted at improving healthcare process. Therefore, the patient is at the center of all this so as to ensure that safety and quality is not compromised. Impact of Human Factors on Patient Safety There are many human factors in the realm of healthcare organization that can endanger patient safety. One of these factors is negligence. Any form of negligence by the nurses and other health practitioners directly puts the safety of the patient in a very risky state (Jones,2003). Other issues include stress. When nurses or other healthcare practitioners discharge their duties under stress, their level of efficiency is completely compromised. For instance, their accuracy in terms of carrying out the various patient attendance procedures is highly undermined. The nurse is not in a position to make rational or credible judgment in such situation. The same is true with other human factors that affect performance of any employee. All these factors cumulatively infringe on patient’s safety. Any incompetency or complacency that is demonstrated by health practitioners directly puts the health of the patient in an awkward situation. This emphasizes the need for hospitals and other healthcare provision centers to deal with the issue appropriately. Mechanisms must be put in place to ensure that healthcare providers are not exposed to factors whose consequence is detrimental to the safety of the patient. This is very critical yet very difficult considering the personal issues that are likely to influence the level of competency of the health providers. In ensuring healthcare quality and safety, the role of the management is very vital. The creation of an environment where patients from everywhere can access quality medical care is basically the role of management. The managers ought to ensure that qualified and skilled practitioners are employed (Karwowski,2012). The key services to be provided in the healthcare centers like nursing care, therapeutic procedures, homecare services and many others must not be compromised at all cost. Moreover, the management is responsible for designing policies and regulations that govern the working of the healthcare institution. Through that, the managers are expected to lay down policies that will guarantee patient safety and quality services. Effective policies will ensure that healthcare practitioners who are not able to competently discharge their duties due to some human factors are not allowed to attend to patients. Such strict guidelines will with time become the culture of the healthcare institution. The focus of risk management strategies is to ensure optimal patient safety and quality. Risk management is a health care center begins with appropriate training. Any employee who interacts with the patient either directly or indirectly must be adequately trained. The training includes guidelines in relation to handling protocol when dealing with patients. An example is proper medical records, timely supply of equipment, medications, etc. Moreover, there must be security enhancement facilities in relation to entering certain rooms (Jones,2003). For instance theatre rooms must not be accessed by many people. The equipment must also be in good condition and well-maintained all the time. All the employees in the organization must be fully cognizant of the necessity of routine safety precaution to ensure that no one is endangered. Conclusion It is true that regardless of the fact that human error is inevitable, it should be known to management that any cost incurred in ensuring patient quality and safety is assured is worthy it. Every health care institution must ensure that the necessary mechanisms are put in place to facilitate patient quality and safety standards. It is the role of the management to set standards that will guarantee proper attendance to patients. Moreover, the management has a special responsibility to ensure that practitioners on duty are in proper conditions to enable them discharge their duties credibly. This is achieved through designing of proper working schedules with adequate supervisory. At the same time, appropriate risk management strategies must be emphasized to ensure that every stakeholder is adhering to them. References Armitage, G. (2009). Human error theory: relevance to nurse management. Journal of Journal Management, 17(2), 193-202. Attalenese, E. & Duca, G. (2012). Human factors and ergonomic principles in building design for life and work activities: an applied methodology. Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science, 13(2), 187-202. Berman, W. (2007). When will they ever learn? Learning and teaching from mistakes in the clinical context. Clinical Law Review, 13(1), 115-141. Charness, N. & Tuffiash, M. (2008).The Role of Expertise Research and Human Factors in Capturing, Explaining and Producing Superior Performance.Human Factors, 50(3): 427- 432. Dean, B., Schachter, M. & Vincent, C. (2008). Causes of prescribing errors in hospital inpatients perspective: a prospective study. Lancet, 359(9315), 1373. Hosseini, A., Haji, J. & Mehrabi, Y. (2012). Factors influencing human errors during work permit issuance by the electric power transmission network operators. Indian Journal of Science and Technology, 5(8), 3169-3173. Hunzuker, S., Tschan, F. & Semmer, N.K. (2010). Human factors in resuscitation: Lessons learned from simulator studies. Journal of Emergencies, 3(4), 389-394. Karwowski, W. (2012). A Review of human factors challenges of complex adaptive systems: discovering and understanding chaos in human performance. Human Factors, 54(6), 983- 995. Jones, B. (2003). Risk Management in Health Care Institutions: A Strategic Approach. New York: McGraw-Hill. Jou, Y., Yen, T. & Chiuhsiang, J. (2011). The research on extracting the information of human errors in the main control room of nuclear power plants by using performance evaluation matrix. Safety Science, 49(2), 236-242. Read More