Physical Ergonomics Contribution to Health Workers’ Well-Being: a Triage Station Analysis

In health systems the care of patients cannot be treated separately from the operators’ wellbeing, because it is through the operator’s work that the quality of the service provided to patients is produced (RCN, 2003). We present an intervention within an emergency department, particularly at triage. Acceptance of patients at triage is one of most critical stages in the user-system relationship, as the patient’s strong demands compel the operator to respond rapidly and effectively. System variability is extremely high and must be managed by the front line operator according to the specific context. The ergonomic analysis of the triage station started with an assessment of physical (environmental and instrumental) parameters integrated with the information emerged from a simulation of a patient’s access to triage. The following repeated observations of the triage operator’s work aimed at detecting elements in operator-patient interaction creating daily variability management problems. These elements were returned to operators as feedback through focus groups in the ward; through discussions also involving charge nurse and head of department, a number of problems allowing a short-term local solution were solved. Subsequently, mixed groups of operators worked together to find feasible and shared solutions for complex organisational problems.