Medicine and Health Medical Radiation Science Radiography

Question: Discuss about the Medicine and Health Medical Radiation Science Radiography. Answer: Introduction: As a second year student of radiography, I got placement in a radiography hospital. The hospital provides the service of general x ray. The building has two main entrances and an emergency entrance. As a new radiographer, I had to work under my mentor or senior supervisor. She guided me to handle difficult situation and taught me new techniques of radiography. My ward was at the second floor opposite to the lift. I was very excited and nervous to get the chance of working in that department and hospital. As a radiographer, I had the permission to use three computers for PACS, exposure and RIS. As I was new, the environment was very challenging for me and also very interesting. I did not know the rule and regulation of the department and hospital. As a result, I had to depend on my superiors. However, she made me understand the rules and regulations and also advised to carry a notebook to note down important points. She told me that I have to handle various kinds of patient and I shou ld be careful in my working. Professional and ethical conduct During working in that hospital, I had to work under my supervisor radiographer, caring for a seven year old vulnerable girl child. The child came with the fracture on the left leg. I started to pull down blind to check the problem with the consent of family members. The girl became angry and started to shout. I felt that I should ask her family member to pull down. However, the PACS image, I took was clear with the supervision of my superior as did not take such image earlier. I learnt about the ethical a professional conducts of radiography. My seniors suggest me to read books of ethical consideration of radiography. I came to know that in case of patient handling like vulnerable people; I should maintain the eye contact and behave more politely. I hope that in future, I will not be nervous and behave more professionally to handle such situation. Communication and collaboration I got a female aboriginal patient of 58 years with hypertension and chronic breathing problem. I decided to perform PA chest test and heart X-ray to check the position of heart. As she was aboriginal and I have English accent, there was a communication gap. I could not understand her words and she was also facing problems to communicate. I became nervous and asked the advice of the supervisor. She suggested me to hire an interpreter or use non verbal way of communication. I got my confidence back and chose to use non verbal way to communicate. Later, I noticed my seniors; how they handle such situation and noted down in my notebook. I learnt about different kinds of communication skills and will try to implement them in future work. I acted professionally with the patient with the help of my mentor. I started to use simple words instead of using jargons like to touch the board with their shoulder side and moving both foot pointing the toes towards me. I noted the simple phrases and k ept practicing to improve myself. Evidence based practice and professional learning I examined and reviewed fracture on right leg of a 60 years old man. As he was very aged so I acted very politely and checked him very carefully. I asked my superior to guide me but she has urgent patients so she just demonstrated me the procedure of taking PACS image. I was nervous as I did not know the procedure. The image was optimal. However, I asked patient to show me the pain area to understand the type of pain. I asked my supervisor to show me some PACS images but as she was in hurry, she could not. She suggested me to show those images later. I got the chance to check the PACS images and report soon clear my idea. However, I was quite happy as I learnt to take PACS images and handled an old aged patient very carefully without any complication. Radiation safety and risk management A 16 years old boy came with left ankle fracture to me and I checked up the legs very carefully before applying radiation. I applied the techniques of angling toes medially so that fifth toes can be perpendicular to middle of calcaneus. However, the image I got, was not very clear, it was optimal. To get a clear image, I had to apply more radiation to the patient that was unprofessional. I asked my supervisor about the precautions of lead effects and other factors of radiation. She advised me about the techniques of radiography and asked me to note all the important points.I tried to get attachment with other radiographers and note down the new techniques to develop my own techniques. My supervisor advised me to examine the patient very carefully at first before applying the harmful radiography. It may harm the young patient. Practice in Medical radiation science A 3 month lactating mother of 29 years old came with vertebral pain. The clinical report showed that she has doubt of spondylitis. For the first time, I got a patient with lactation so I decided to consult the supervisor. However, I knew about lead protection and appropriate collimation though I had doubt about the performance of the radiographer and justified risk vs. benefits with the application of ALARA principle. I carefully used lead gown and portable lead strand for extra protection. By fault I repeated the process which was wrong. The image quality was optimal. I decided to prepare checklist note in future about the beneficence vs. risk factors with the protocol, proper collimation, portable lead stand, lead gown, exposure screen check and examination properly. I learnt the technique and will be careful in future and noted the important points in my notebook. The positive side of the experience was that my communication skills developed. I explained the patient about the x-ra y procedure of figure rather than unnecessary extra doses.