5 ms·

Dexterity assessment of hospital workers: prospective comparative study

31 points by bkudria 2y ago

magic_smoke_ee 2y ago
I still think surgeons should offer shaves. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barber_surgeon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barber_surgeon
qrybam 2y ago
Gut reaction to the results: swearing because you feel you should have got it, and frustration because you feel it's too hard.
woliveirajr 2y ago
> Implementation of a surgical swear jar initiative Yes, the main goal of a surgical site is to avoid swearing > our findings are not applicable to children younger than 4 years for whom the buzz wire game’s small parts may represent a choking hazard, although these individuals are unlikely to be currently employed in secondary care. Now, that's a point. I'd avoid a 0-3 toddler if i could choose so before some surgery.
- munch117 2y ago
  It would seem that swearing is correlated with higher skill. It may be premature to suggest that we should encourage increased swearing - correlation is not causation - but it seems the logical avenue to pursue. Further research is needed.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
- SiempreViernes 2y ago
  This is an example of a sentence where truncation significantly changes the meaning. It reads in full > Implementation of a surgical swear jar initiative should be considered for future fundraising events. from which it is clear that suppression of swearing by the surgeons is very much not the intended goal.
wslh 2y ago
The study appears to omit handedness as a potential factor influencing performance.
- chaos_emergent 2y ago
  Why is it relevant to include that factor
  - pugworthy 2y ago
    Whether by specific design or just by unconscious bias, the world is primarily right handed. The buzzwire game used for example has a wand on a flexible wire with the wire attached towards one side of the base and not the center. Does this create bias? Hard to say, but it might. See pictures of the Buzzwire used in the test at https://www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-buzzwire-game/p4349607 https://www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-buzzwire-game/p4349607
Animats 2y ago
There's a standard test for this: The O'Connor Tweezer Dexterity Test.[1] There's a board with small holes, a supply of metal pins, and a tweezer for putting pins in the holes. It's overpriced, because it's "medical". Some electronics assembly plants use such a test to screen new hires. Tweezer dexterity improves with practice. Hands are more precise than vision. Looking through a microscope, you can position something within a thousandth of an inch with tweezers. This is familiar to anyone who's placed surface mount parts on a board by hand. [1] https://www.amazon.com/s?k=tweezer+dexterity+test https://www.amazon.com/s?k=tweezer+dexterity+test
- pugworthy 2y ago
  The toy used in the study is a lot cheaper - about $15. See https://www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-buzzwire-game/p4349607 https://www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-buzzwire-game/p4349607 I was really expecting to see it was the classic “Operation“ game when I first saw mention in the paper.

31 points by bkudria 2y ago

I still think surgeons should offer shaves. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barber_surgeon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barber_surgeon

qrybam 2y ago

Gut reaction to the results: swearing because you feel you should have got it, and frustration because you feel it's too hard.

woliveirajr 2y ago

> Implementation of a surgical swear jar initiative Yes, the main goal of a surgical site is to avoid swearing > our findings are not applicable to children younger than 4 years for whom the buzz wire game’s small parts may represent a choking hazard, although these individuals are unlikely to be currently employed in secondary care. Now, that's a point. I'd avoid a 0-3 toddler if i could choose so before some surgery.

munch117 2y ago
It would seem that swearing is correlated with higher skill. It may be premature to suggest that we should encourage increased swearing - correlation is not causation - but it seems the logical avenue to pursue. Further research is needed.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
SiempreViernes 2y ago
This is an example of a sentence where truncation significantly changes the meaning. It reads in full > Implementation of a surgical swear jar initiative should be considered for future fundraising events. from which it is clear that suppression of swearing by the surgeons is very much not the intended goal.

wslh 2y ago

The study appears to omit handedness as a potential factor influencing performance.

chaos_emergent 2y ago
Why is it relevant to include that factor
- pugworthy 2y ago
  Whether by specific design or just by unconscious bias, the world is primarily right handed. The buzzwire game used for example has a wand on a flexible wire with the wire attached towards one side of the base and not the center. Does this create bias? Hard to say, but it might. See pictures of the Buzzwire used in the test at https://www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-buzzwire-game/p4349607 https://www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-buzzwire-game/p4349607

Animats 2y ago

There's a standard test for this: The O'Connor Tweezer Dexterity Test.[1] There's a board with small holes, a supply of metal pins, and a tweezer for putting pins in the holes. It's overpriced, because it's "medical". Some electronics assembly plants use such a test to screen new hires. Tweezer dexterity improves with practice. Hands are more precise than vision. Looking through a microscope, you can position something within a thousandth of an inch with tweezers. This is familiar to anyone who's placed surface mount parts on a board by hand. [1] https://www.amazon.com/s?k=tweezer+dexterity+test https://www.amazon.com/s?k=tweezer+dexterity+test

pugworthy 2y ago
The toy used in the study is a lot cheaper - about $15. See https://www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-buzzwire-game/p4349607 https://www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-buzzwire-game/p4349607 I was really expecting to see it was the classic “Operation“ game when I first saw mention in the paper.