Human factors in anaesthetic crisis

Conflicts of Interest Anesthesia Practice: Relationships with Industry, Responsibility to the Health Care System, and Research Integrity

Conflicts of interest (COIs) between clinical obligations and other roles and responsibilities occur throughout health care, including anesthetic practice. In some circumstances, these conflicts are unavoidable. This article describes some of the potential conflicts and explores approaches to managing them in 3 key areas: relationships with industry, responsibility to the health care system, and obligations in research. Although working with industry has many benefits, COIs may arise from financial arrangements, potential biases that may go unrecognized, prioritization of commercial interests and even guideline development.

Human errors and their prevention in healthcare

Human errors form a significant portion of preventable mishaps in healthcare. Even the most competent clinicians are not immune to it. Errors in the perioperative period can often have grave consequences, and hence, perioperative clinicians need to be aware of the impact of human errors and how to minimize them. Errors are broadly classified into two kinds: latent and active errors. While active errors need to be addressed at the individual level, latent errors indicate organizational inadequacies. This review describes common errors in perioperative settings, the impact of such errors on healthcare, and preventive strategies to minimize such errors in daily patient care.