Electrical Testing in Healthcare Facilities: What You Must Know
What You Need to Know—Plus What Most People Miss
Hospitals, Nursing Homes, and Surgery Centers
Electrical testing is a critical part of keeping your patients and staff safe. It’s also one of the more common areas where facilities struggle during surveys. Whether you’re a maintenance director, administrator, or the person documenting inspection records, you need to know what’s required—and what’s not.
Let’s break down what you need to do and how often you need to do it.
Electrical Outlet Testing
The Two Common Mistakes I See
In healthcare, electrical outlets in patient care areas must be reliable. During mock surveys and inspections, I often see facilities either:
Not testing their outlets at all, or
Testing them more often than the code requires
Both approaches can hurt you during a survey. If you’re not testing at all, that’s a clear deficiency. If you’re testing too much, you’re wasting time and possibly misusing resources. So let’s get into what’s actually required.
Hospital-Grade Receptacles
NFPA 99 (2012) Section 6.3.4.1.1
“Where hospital-grade receptacles are required at patient bed locations and in