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Understanding the importance of ‘why?’
Chris Gale, head of education for Avensys Training, is from a military education background and believes that human factors science, which has been adopted by the military aviation sector, could have an important contribution in helping to prevent errors in decontamination facilities and biomedical engineering. He calls for increased investment in staff education – to empower staff to understand why we do things, to improve patient safety, and ensure staff feel valued.
The Avensys Training Academy is an internationally recognised provider of biomedical engineering qualifications and certified decontamination training courses, located at the Black Country and Marches Institute of Technology (IoT). The Academy delivers certified training to UK hospitals as well as on location training in Europe and beyond. The team of trainers has extensive experience in the sterilisation, decontamination and engineering fields, built over decades as hands-on practitioners and educators. Located in Dudley, the Institute of
Technology has allowed Avensys to expand its offering. Training now takes place within a ‘Mock Hospital’. This simulated training environment contains theatre, ward, dental practice, diagnostic imaging and Central Sterile Services Department (CSSD) rooms providing the ideal environment for both hands on and theoretical learning. At the heart of Avensys’ education strategy is the concept of ‘human factors science’ – defined as enhancing performance
through “an understanding of the effects of teamwork, tasks, equipment, workspace, culture and organisation on human behaviour and abilities and application of that knowledge in clinical settings.”1 Chris Gale believes there must be a distinction made between ‘education’ and ‘training’. Training focuses on the ‘how’ and
If people understandwhy we do things, it motivates them to do the right thing, as they are aware of the implications and the bigger picture. All too often, training providers con- centrate on one piece of the jigsaw. Education should provide visibility of all the jigsaw pieces
and how they fit together. Chris Gale, Avensys
JANUARY 2023
the ‘what’, whereas education provides the ‘how’, ‘what’ and the ‘why’. This approach ensures that, when things go wrong, people have a clearer understanding of the reasons. “If people understand why we do things, it motivates them to do the right thing, as they are aware of the implications and the bigger picture. All too often, training providers concentrate on one piece of the jigsaw. Education should provide visibility of all the jigsaw pieces and how they fit together,” Chris Gale explains.
“If you only show individuals their piece of the jigsaw, they will build their own ‘perceptual set’ of the rest of the picture. This is dangerous, particularly within healthcare-related processes, such as biomedical engineering or decontamination. People will deviate from best practice because they think they are doing the right thing. It is also important to rehearse real-life scenarios. This is often used in aviation, as it helps to address situational awareness. “When we provide education, we take
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