Blood sampling: two sides to the story

Pickup, Laura; Atkinson, Sarah; Hollnagel, Erik; Bowie, Paul; Gray, Sandra; Rawlinson, Sam; Forrester, Kate

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate why there is variability in taking blood. A multi method Pilot study was completed in four National Health Service Scotland hospitals. Human Factors/Ergonomics principles were applied to analyse data from 50 observations, 15 interviews and 12-months of incident data from all Scottish hospitals. The Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM) was used to understand why variability may influence blood sampling functions. The analysis of the 61 pre blood transfusion sampling incidents highlighted limitations in the data collected to understand factors influencing performance. FRAM highlighted how variability in the sequence of blood sampling functions and the number of practitioners involved in a single blood sampling activity was influenced by the working environment, equipment, clinical context, work demands and staff resources. This pilot study proposes a realistic view of why blood sampling activities vary and proposes the need to consider the system’s resilience in future safety management strategies.

Citation

Pickup, L., Atkinson, S., Hollnagel, E., Bowie, P., Gray, S., Rawlinson, S., & Forrester, K. (2017). Blood sampling: two sides to the story. Applied Ergonomics, 59A, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2016.08.027

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 27, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Sep 14, 2016
• Publication Date: Mar 31, 2017
• Deposit Date: Sep 6, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 14, 2016
• Journal: Applied Ergonomics
• Print ISSN: 0003-6870
• Electronic ISSN: 1872-9126
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 59A
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2016.08.027
• Keywords: Blood sampling, Wrong Blood In Tube, Resilience
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/853205
• Publisher URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003687016301806
• Contract Date: Sep 6, 2016