Existing research comparing error management (a strategy focusing on increasing the positive and decreasing the negative consequences of errors) to error prevention (a strategy focusing on working faultlessly), has identified error management as beneficial for multiple outcomes. Yet, due to various methodological limitations, it is unclear whether the effects previously found are due to error prevention, error management, or both. We examine this in an experimental study with a 2 (error prevention: yes vs. no) × 2 (error management: yes vs. no) factorial design. Error prevention had negative effects on cognition and adaptive transfer performance. Error management alleviated worry and boosted one’s perceived self-efficacy. Overall, the results show that error prevention and error management have unique outcomes on negative affect, self-efficacy, cognition, and performance.
This research explores how group- and organizational-level factors affect errors in administering drugs to hospitalized patients. Findings from patient care groups in two hospitals show systematic differences not just in the frequency of errors, but also in the likelihood that errors will be detected and learned from by group members. Implications for learning in and by work teams in general are discussed.
Cyber security continues to be an increasingly important topic when considering Homeland Security issues. This area however is often overlooked during a disaster or emergency situation. Emergency management within the US as it currently stands lacks any real cyber situational awareness with respect to the core activities of emergency management such as mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. As a result critical cyberinfrastructure resources that emergency management personnel rely on is left on the sideline when planning, handling, and recovering from emergencies or natural disasters. As emergency management evolves within the US to handle dynamic man-made, and natural disasters such as terrorist attacks, hurricanes, and floods, these issues must be addressed to mitigate risks. This paper takes the first step in examining the issue of cyber situational awareness within emergency management and identifies several concerns for the emergency management community.