In such intense situations, decision-making can be compromised, potentially impacting on quality of care and clinical outcomes.
Human Factors is an established scientific discipline that focuses on optimising staff performance by helping individuals better understand their own behaviours, how they respond under pressure, their interactions with others, and their environment.
It can also be used to assess why things go wrong, and how to implement change to mitigate risks and prevent mistakes happening in the future.
"Adopting a proactive approach to Human Factors training will equip staff with the tools they need to better communicate escalate, and lead in high-pressure situations," says Head of Patient Safety and Risk Management, Lorraine Schwanberg.
This project was a winning submission to the Crown Fund: a programme for funding smaller scale projects designed to attract exciting and impactful initiatives across our hospitals. Departments, wards and specialties were invited to share their project ideas for up to £25,000 to conduct small-scale innovations that have the potential to make a big difference to patient outcomes and experience.