A clinical engineer's view of medical instrumentation.
Physicians and nurses frequently assume that a better level of patient care exists when instrumentation is involved. This is true only when the equipment applicable to the problem is knowledgeably selected, properly maintained, and used in a suitable setting by personnel who understand the product and know how to respond when the unexpected occurs. If any of thes components are missing, it may well jeopardize a patient's well-being. Only by the adoption of explicit policies, properly enforced, can these omissions be controlled and thus assure the medical staff that the use of instrumentation will indeed benefit patient care.
D001698:Biomedical Engineering; D003657:Decision Making; D004865:Equipment and Supplies, Hospital / Q000592:standards*; D008284:Maintenance and Engineering, Hospital / Q000592:standards; D011340:Problem Solving; D011682:Purchasing, Hospital / Q000592:standards; D012449:Safety