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Embracing the Human Factor


Published on August 7, 2020

An expert translates surgical nurses’ device packaging wish lists into roadmaps that help engineers make those wishes come true.

Most of us are familiar with the annual HealthPack conference. One of the most popular, and most valuable, sessions of the conference is the nurse panel. Here, attendees watch and listen as surgical nurses, the frontliners responsible for opening and preparing devices for use, opine on their real-time experiences interacting with packaging. Details of specific challenges they face, and what they wish existed instead, is the name of the game.

Ours is an industry of improving quality of life for people facing health challenges. That same human factor (HF), from the clinician perspective as they access the products we deliver, drives how efficiently they can address those challenges.

This article from Healthcare Packaging reviews nurse panel feedback from HealthPack 2020 through the lens of an HF expert. Virginia Lang, PhD, President & Chief Scientist at HirLan, Inc., breaks down the nurse panelists’ comments. Lang translates each pain point into a technical application, and then proposes actionable solutions for implementation by packaging engineers. Kind of makes us excited for HealthPack 2021.

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