“Any chance that you may be pregnant? When was your last menstrual cycle?” These are critical questions that need to be asked within the imaging department. Radiation is not something that should be taken lightly. Radiation is when energy is emitted as a wave or particle that causes ionization. Ionizing radiation is what we are worried about especially for women during pregnancy. Only one cell has to be hit by radiation to cause a detrimental effect to a person. So you can see how important it is to try and keep pregnant mothers away from imaging departments in the healthcare field. The question is how much of a risk is it actually causing the patient when they are pregnant and coming into contact with radiation? How often does it actually …show more content…
She should declare her pregnancy as soon as she finds out so her superiors and radiation safety officer can work out a plan for her so she has extra precautions against accidental exposures. “In a case where the pregnant mother worked in a radiation field the NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) recommends that there is an exposure limit of 0.5 rem for a radiologic technologist over the course of her pregnancy.”3 The tech can be placed in a different department where she can avoid higher exposures like portable exams, surgery, fluoroscopic exams, or interventional procedures. The tech should always be wearing a lead apron if there is a possibility of any radiation. She should also get a separate badge that she can wear at abdomen level under her lead apron. This shows how much radiation that fetus actually receives. The technologist also needs to always consider the cardinal rules, which are time, distance, and …show more content…
With intentional exposures comes many thoughts and questions on why. First off, the medical physicist should justify whether or not the exam is needed, risks versus benefits. Then they should communicate this with the patient. Communicating with the patient can be hard. They need to fully understand the risks that may come out of having the exposure. Then the exam needs to executed perfectly for optimization of the exposure, no repeats should be taken. 5 They need to have a small exposure time and appropriate exposure factors. The primary beam should be pointing away from the fetus if there is any way possible and restricting/collimating the beam size as much as possible.6It is very important to get the patient positioned just perfect the first time. It is also very important to collimate just enough and not too much because then you are defeating the purpose. You are actually giving the patient more radiation because something was clipped out of the image that needed to be there if you collimate too
This can lead to the exposure of the developing child to ionising radiation, which can be potentially damaging. Thus, effective communication between patient and radiographer is a key factor in the delivery of safe and high quality patient
Although Radiologic Technologist (R.T.’s) are most likely known as just someone who takes x-rays they do much more than that. They are responsible for setting up the x-ray equipment along with positioning a patient anatomically correct in order to take the x-rays. All while explaining the procedure to the patient (Duke University 2015). If that is not enough, they are also supposed to make sure that the correct patient is the one being examined beforehand. During the examination, if a patient is connected to an IV or a breathing device they are also supposed to make sure that it is operating properly. Making sure that a patient is comfortable, safe, and modest. So if anything where to happen R.T’s are ready to handle any medical emergency. Most importantly R.T’s are responsible for the images they are taking making sure the quality is nice and clear. The job of the Radiologic Technologist is not over when they are done with caring for a
Another concern that has risen from the body scan security debacle is the potential health risk that the scans may cause to the passengers, especially in cases of frequent fliers, young children, pregnant women, and the security guards that operate the machines. The scanners put out radiation much like the average X ray machines used in doctor’s offices but at much lower levels. This type of X ray scanner is called “backscatter scanners” and scans only detailed images of the outer flesh, not through the skin or showing bones like conventional X rays. Some supporters of the body scanners claim that the amount of radiation emitted by the scans is almost “insignificant” on normal adults (“Experts”). Although adequate testing has still not been completed to determine the full effects of repeated exposure, the concern still remains. Many OBGYN’s urge pregnant women to opt out of the body scans because a developing fetus is so much more sensitive to any potential harm that may be inflicted by the scanners, especially until more research has been completed (“Experts”).
There are two very divergent viewpoints across the medical provider landscape as to whether radiological testing is used too much or not enough. The basic equation comes down to a balance between being sure that certain conditions and disorders are not in play and not wasting time/money and/or exposing the patient to potential harm due to the fairly dangerous nature of being exposed to too much radiation.
There were so many different ideas that went into making the Constitution of the United States. The Founding Fathers brought so many different forms of government for our new country free from Britain. They wanted to make a government much better than what Britain did, but they wanted a government that would work for centuries after as well. So a select few were chosen to help make this possible, the Founding Fathers.
Over the past few decades one of the main arguments patients have when going to see a dentist is the amount of radiation they are exposed to while taking dental radiographs. Every time this happens the dentist has to sit the patient down and talk to them about the cause versus effect. While many patients think that they are being over exposed to radiation while having a standard set of x-rays every year, they never take into account the amount of radiation that they are receiving through other devices of by just walking outside. Not many dental providers think of the amount of radiation they are receiving just by working with it every single day. The lack of knowledge that dental providers have about radiation exposure can affect their overall
However, if you are willing to take that option and you are wanting to become a Radiation Technologists, you must be willing to take a hold on the responsibilities and duties. These responsibilities and duties may be challenging, but can be extremely rewarding in the long run. You must be very patient while reading the details of an image. In order to protect your patient from radiation there must be a radiation shield over them. But, before you can get started on any x-rays, there are questions about their medical history that need to be asked first. Organizing and neatness can be a major key in keeping up with medical records of patients. Although you think your job may be just x-rays and the like, you still have a physician present in the room at all times who will be giving you instructions on where to x-ray the patient.
The quality of medical imaging is of the utmost importance in terms of safety, and must be strictly regulated through federal legislature in addition to state legislature, ensuring the persons administering radiation are held to the highest of standards. Successfully completing accredited programs in radiologic sciences, having thorough knowledge of and resolute compliance with the rules of ethics, as well as achieving certification through the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (A.R.R.T.) by means of examination warrants an imaging professional with the tools necessary to provide and maintain a safe environment for themselves and their patients alike. Respectively, all of these components contribute to a health care professional’s
Macbeth by Shakespeare was written sometime between 1580’s and 1590’s, when the hierarchy was still under kings. At first thought, this structure may seem extremely different from our current political and societal standings, but it may not be as different as one thinks. The way humans behave and think has a lot to do with how our community, state, and country operate. Although our technology has advanced extremely since the 1500’s, Shakespeare’s work shows that our thinking may have not.
Radiation exposure during pregnancy has been debated by health practitioners for a while now. According to the researches carried out it can be concluded that radiation exposure especially to pregnant females poses a threat to the fetus in the formation stage and also later in life. Although pregnant women are advised not to expose themselves to radiation, it may be difficult due to background radiation in the environment that comes from radioactive substances in water, food, air, construction materials and soil.
Mammography is a type of radiologic imaging used “for early detection and diagnosis of breast disease in women” (American Cancer Society). Patients receive doses of radiation that are much larger than that of a chest x-ray. It is rarely noted, that the act, in and of itself, may contribute to the development of malignant cells. Dr. Samuel Epstein, one of the top cancer experts, explains that "the premenopausal breast is highly sensitive to radiation, each 1 rad exposure increases breast cancer risk by about 1 percent. He goes on to say that a single bilateral mammography examination is directly linked with a lifetime risk of inducing fatal breast cancer” (Salazar). Consequentially, more and more women seem to be consuming radiologic
When a woman finds out she is going to have a baby, it should be the most exciting times in her life. However, there may be many teratogens that interfere with the pregnancy and may cause future issues for the child. A teratogen “is any agent that can potentially cause a birth defect or negatively alter cognitive and behavioral outcomes” (Stantrock, page 63).
The amount of radiation people are being exposed to is continuously increasing. Medical imaging plays a big role in this increase, mostly being CT scans. This increase is radiation has been a concern to the public because of the risks patients face. It can result in long-term harm, such as increasing their chances of developing cancer. The concern has been more focused on pediatric patients because of their bodies’ greater sensitivity and they would have a longer amount of time they would have to embody any changes. Four societies started the Image Gently campaign to raise awareness of the need to decreases radiation doses when performing medical scans. Image Gently’s goal is to reduce unnecessary exposure to pediatric patients and was considered
While healthy babies are born every day, not everyone is so fortunate. In many cases, diagnostic radiology is required for patients during their childhood. Can having this radiation during the formative years lead to adverse effects later in life? The biggest concern from radiation is the risk of cancer. Cancer can occur at any dose from ionizing radiation because it is a stochastic effect, meaning that it is probabilistic. The probability of a stochastic effect, such as cancer, increases as the dose increases. While receiving this radiation may be necessary, it can cause some serious trouble later in life, such as breast cancer, leukemia, and thyroid cancer.
Ever since I was a high schooler shooting short films with my small handicam, I knew I wanted to become a filmmaker. Attending Emerson College as a cinematography major helped me define and hone this goal, and build many of the skills I will need to succeed in the industry. During my time at Emerson, I participated in many shoots and internships that helped me move towards my goal of becoming a Director of Photography, or DP. While at Emerson, I was always working on student films and shorts, which taught me a lot about working as part of a team. I gravitated towards working mainly in the camera department, starting out as a clapper loader and focus puller.