Date of Award

8-2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Legacy Department

Industrial Engineering

Committee Chair/Advisor

Dr. Joel S. Greenstein

Committee Member

Dr. Anand K. Gramopadhye

Committee Member

Dr. A. Joy Rivera

Abstract

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the surgical safety checklist consists of three parts; sign-in, time-out and sign-out. It has been observed that the sign-out process is the least frequently completed. In this study, because of a concern for the risk of adverse events occurring in the OR, the sign-out process used in a local hospital was redesigned as a web-based application embedded on a desktop computer and on a mobile device. Both web-based platforms were tested along with the current sign-out process on a computer. Eighteen circulating nurses in the operating rooms of Greenville Memorial Hospital used each of the three sign-out platforms at the end of various surgeries—the current sign-out process on a desktop, the sign-out process using the WebApp on a desktop and the sign-out process using the WebApp on a tablet. Time, performance, workload measures, system usability measures and satisfaction measures were recorded and analyzed.

The time to complete the sign-out process was the longest using the WebApp on the desktop and the shortest using the current sign-out process. The web-based app on both the desktop and the tablet resulted in fewer sign-out process items being skipped than the current system. The web-based app on the desktop resulted in fewer items not being discussed than the current system. Frustration with the sign-out process was rated as higher with the current system than with the WebApp on the desktop. The web-based app on the desktop was rated significantly higher than the current system for situation awareness, ability to detect errors, ability to understand the benefits of performing the sign-out process, and ability of information to be viewed all at once. The WebApp on both the desktop and the tablet was rated significantly higher than the current system for maintaining records and for accessibility from all locations. Fourteen participants preferred the sign-out process using the WebApp on the desktop while two preferred the current system and two preferred the WebApp on the tablet.

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