Zanna Mercer
Professional Development Manager, The Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estate Management
Zanna Mercer's role focuses on helping existing and aspiring engineers who work in a healthcare setting to reach their career goals. She offers further training, guidance and information, and supporting individuals to make new connections in the industry.
Discover what it means to be a healthcare engineer
Healthcare engineers help people with health and wellbeing challenges by making and looking after the machinery and supplies used in hospitals. By helping to stop the spread of bacteria or fire, and making sure electrics, air, machinery and water are all working correctly, they play a very important role in keeping us all safe.
There are lots of different types of healthcare engineers. Some use practical skills and tools, for example in a laboratory or power station. They may also use research and knowledge in their jobs, while others may make use of technology, like artificial intelligence and virtual reality.
Careers in this industry may vary, but all healthcare engineers use problem solving as part of their everyday roles and responsibilities. This means that in every discipline there is a big opportunity to use a mixture of science, maths, and creative thinking to achieve an outcome.
Some of the areas healthcare engineers may be trained in are listed below, working on equipment design, installation, testing, or maintenance in:
- decontamination - making sure healthcare equipment and environments are kept clean and safe through cleaning, disinfecting, and sterilising processes
- electrical - generating and distributing power, as well as working with electricity supply and safety for systems like telecommunications, transportation, or manufacturing
- fire safety - protecting patients from fire risks by working on areas like smoke movement, fireproofing and the way different materials respond to fire
- mechanical - working with a wide range of mechanical systems used in hospitals to ensure they work safely and efficiently
- medical gas - delivering gases through pipes to patients in hospitals, such as oxygen, nitrous oxide, and compressed air
- medical engineering - improving the systems which help diagnose and treat patients during their care
- ventilation - ensuring heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems are safe, by reducing airborne disease, as well as effective in keeping patients comfortable
- water- keeping the water supply safe and hygienic, through managing existing systems and designing new ways to reduce the risk of water infection
It is important to remember that not all journeys into healthcare engineering look the same. Some people choose to study related subjects in school and at university, while others follow an apprentice route, which involves a more hands on training and learning at the same time as working in a real-life healthcare setting.
Lots of healthcare engineers will continue to specialise as they go through their careers. Or even change their area of work from one type of engineering to another, as they gain more experience or discover different skills they enjoy.
The Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estate Management (IHEEM) support existing professionals to advance their careers. We help aspiring engineers who want to work in different healthcare roles to continue learning, share ideas, and gain extra qualifications. We also help young people learn more about healthcare engineering options available to them and how to reach the career they are interested in.
There are lots of different types of healthcare engineers. Some use practical skills and tools, for example in a laboratory or power station. They may also use research and knowledge in their jobs, while others may make use of technology, like artificial intelligence and virtual reality.
— Zanna Mercer, Professional Development Manager, The Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estate Management
