Bags, batteries and boxes: A qualitative interview study to understand how syringe drivers are adapted and used by healthcare staff

Abstract

Syringe drivers are medical devices that are critical for end of life care. They deliver continuous medication over extended periods of time. Their design contributes to the quality of experience for both patients and healthcare professionals. Little research has been published about the factors that influence the usability of this type of equipment for frontline users (i.e. those in direct contact with patients) and how equipment gets introduced. Understanding how syringe drivers are used in practice can help improve the design of equipment. 27 semi-structured interviews were conducted across acute hospitals, community hospitals and hospices (4 organisations in total). All participating organisations used the same type of syringe driver. It was found that frontline staff needed to adapt this equipment to fit the circumstances of use. The analysis provided examples of this happening for aspects relating to the appearance of the device (bags), accessories (batteries) and security (the lockable box).

HCI for health and wellbeing: Challenges and opportunities

“…Beyond the hospital, infusion pumps are mainly used for palliative care and other relatively simple medication regimes. While the basic usability of these devices is widely considered acceptable by those who set them up, issues emerge in the broader setting, such as ensuring that they cannot be tampered with when there is no direct clinical supervision (Vincent and Blandford, 2017) and supporting troubleshooting when anything goes wrong .…”

“Palliative Syringe Driver”? A Mixed-Methods Study in Different Hospital Departments on Continuous Infusions of Sedatives and/or Opioids in End-of-Life Care

“…To our knowledge, articles report results of small single-center studies, focus on specific components such as drug compatibilities, or reflect expert opinions. 3,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] Therefore, this study aims to assess the current clinical practice of continuous infusions of sedatives and opioids within the last week of life in general hospital departments and explore health care professionals' respective experiences.…”

“…However, empirical data on the handling of continuous infusions at the end of life in general hospital departments are still scarce, in particular internationally. To our knowledge, articles report results of small single-center studies, focus on specific components such as drug compatibilities, or reflect expert opinions 3,13–20 …”

“…To our knowledge, articles report results of small single-center studies, focus on specific components such as drug compatibilities, or reflect expert opinions. 3 , 13 – 20 …”