Learning lessons from Olympians

Ireland's Olympian and Paralympian athletes are elite performers who possess skill, grit, and unrelenting drive. Parallels to the high performance required in healthcare can be drawn. Increasing recognition of human factors across the healthcare service in a pan-speciality interprofessional approach can improve patient outcomes.

We propose an analysis of Ireland's Olympian and Paralympian success in the context of sports psychology and human factors. Using DuPont's framework, we provide pragmatic, real-world examples in an easy-to-adapt fashion applicable to healthcare.

The dirty dozen of human factors can be applied equally to the domains of sport and healthcare. Using clear examples of recent Irish sporting successes at the Olympics, a framework for how to conceptualise and apply the human factors which govern patient outcomes and organisational success can be achieved. These include lack of communication, complacency, lack of knowledge, distraction, lack of teamwork, fatigue, lack of resources, pressure, lack of assertiveness, stress, and lack of awareness.

Novice healthcare professionals may use this introduction to become familiar with the area of human factors in an easy-to-conceptualise manner.