Applying Human Factors Engineering Methods for Risk Assessment of a Neonatal Incubator

This research aimed to find main users, frequent utilized tasks, major usability problems, and the context of use of a neonatal incubator (NI) present in a neonatal intensive care unit from a Brazilian hospital and to find out the problems faced by a new user. The chosen methods were the heuristics...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Renata Aparecida Ribeiro Custódio, Clarissa Trzesniak, Renata Pinto Ribeiro Miranda, Guilherme Henrique Donda Angelini, Jade Souza Bordón, Leila Cristina Santos Vieira, Carlos Henrique Pereira Mello
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hindawi Limited 2019-01-01
Series:Journal of Healthcare Engineering
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2019/8589727
Description
Summary:This research aimed to find main users, frequent utilized tasks, major usability problems, and the context of use of a neonatal incubator (NI) present in a neonatal intensive care unit from a Brazilian hospital and to find out the problems faced by a new user. The chosen methods were the heuristics analysis, contextual investigation, and usability test (UT). Nurses and technicians are the main users of NIs. The predominant contexts of use are the admission of newborns and the replacement of the equipment. Eight selected tasks were performed in the UT, and the most significant problems refer to alarms and configuration of the Air and Skin Modes, because the interface is not intuitive to novice users. Therefore, mitigating errors should be an investment in human factor engineering methods from the beginning of the product development process to the training of the main users.
ISSN:2040-2295
2040-2309