Education and Training
More than 70% of the hospitals in all regions have a program for training the medical and nursing staff on the proper and safe use of biomedical equipment. In North America, the Nordic countries, and Australia, the majority of the departments report that they can meet less than 50% of user education and training needs. In Latin America, however, in half of the responding hospitals, the CEDs perform more than 75% of the user’s education. There is continuing education for the technical staff as well, which is mainly performed on-thejob or in training courses organized by the manufacturers. The highest frequency of training courses, attended by CED personnel, is in the Nordic countries—every 6 months; in North America—once or twice per year; and in Australia—once or twice every two years. Few departments in North America reported no training at all, while this is also the situation reported by the majority of the departments in Latin America. However, when inquired if this frequency of training courses is satisfactory, 67% from the participants from the Nordic countries answer positively, with the respective numbers for the other regions–63% for North America, 60% for Australia, and 27% for Latin America.