A Human Factors Approach to Understanding and Designing for Infection Prevention and Control in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Qualitative methods were used to understand infection prevention and control breaches within an existing neonatal intensive care unit and inform future design development. The study aimed to identify the main issues that... [ view full abstract ]

Qualitative methods were used to understand infection prevention and control breaches within an existing neonatal intensive care unit and inform future design development. The study aimed to identify the main issues that health care workers experience in infection prevention and control and their relationship to the design of the environment. Methods from human-centred design such as planning, stakeholder meetings and naturalistic observation were used to document the unit, work processes, interactions, behaviours and perspectives of health care workers related to infection prevention and control. Thematic analysis was used to identify core issues, subthemes and their interrelationship to share with staff and inform recommendations.