Participatory ergonomics for healthcare process redesign: the example of family-centered rounds

We describe a participatory ergonomics project aimed at redesigning the complex healthcare process of family-centered rounds (FCR) in a pediatric hospital. The participatory process involved 10 representative FCR stakeholders (e.g., physician, nurse, parent) over a period of 10 months. This participatory ergonomics project demonstrated how human factors and ergonomics principles (e.g., usability, shared mental model) could be integrated into the redesign of complex healthcare processes. Several challenges needed to be overcome to facilitate participation and collaboration among a diverse group of stakeholders, such as identifying the optimal number and type of stakeholders, and scheduling and organization of meetings.