To Build a Culture of Safety, Use Human Factors Engineering

Amish Aghera, MD, Emergency Medicine Physician and the Director for the Center for Clinical Simulation and Safety and the Simulation Fellowship at Maimonides Medical Center, explains the necessity of creating tools to help keep humans from making mistakes. In recent years, many have pointed to systems issues as the cause of adverse events. Recognizing that healthcare workers are human and subject to human fallibility is critical in developing a culture of safety. Thus, developing decision support tools, medical early warning systems, and other similar programs is an essential element in keeping patients safe. Simulation is yet another tool to help clinicians develop skills without impacting patients directly.