Results
#1. Which organization requires healthcare facilities to have preventive maintenance programs for medical equipment?
Correct Answer: The Joint Commission (TJC)
Explanation: TJC requires facilities to maintain preventive maintenance programs that help ensure patient equipment remains safe and reliable.
#2. Why is tracking patient care equipment important?
Correct Answer: It helps prevent equipment shortages
Explanation: Equipment tracking improves availability, reduces lost equipment, and ensures devices are available when patients need them.
#3. Before patient equipment can be released for use after entering a healthcare facility, who must verify it is safe?
Correct Answer: A Biomedical technician
Explanation: Biomedical technicians inspect and test equipment to verify it meets safety standards before it is used on patients.
#4. Which department is responsible for performing safety inspections and functional testing on patient care equipment?
Correct Answer: Biomedical/Clinical Engineering
Explanation: Biomedical/Clinical Engineering ensures patient care equipment is safe, properly maintained, and functioning correctly before use.
#5. When should patient care equipment be inspected for obvious hazards like cracked housings or damaged electrical cords?
Correct Answer: Every time the equipment is inspected in Sterile Processing
Explanation: Routine visual inspections help identify safety hazards before equipment reaches the patient.
#6. If patient equipment causes harm because of a malfunction, what should be done immediately?
Correct Answer: Return it immediately to Biomedical Engineering
Explanation: Equipment involved in a malfunction should be removed from service immediately for evaluation and investigation.
#7. What information is not typically part of patient equipment maintenance records?
Correct Answer: Patient diagnosis
Explanation: Maintenance records focus on the equipment itself, not the patient’s medical condition.
#8. How should patient care equipment be stored after it has been processed?
Correct Answer: Ready to dispense
Explanation: Clean, processed equipment should be stored so it is immediately available for patient care.
#9. What should be done with disposable tubing, pads, and other single-use accessories after patient use?
Correct Answer: Discard them at the point of use
Explanation: Single-use components should never be reused because doing so increases the risk of infection.
#10. How should all patient care equipment returned after use be handled?
Correct Answer: As contaminated equipment
Explanation: Used patient equipment should always be treated as contaminated until it has been properly cleaned and disinfected.