Question

The following study states that a medical worker is assigned to work where inpatients are radiographed. Midmorning the radiology tech receives a request to perform an abdominal series on a 87 year old female patient, Wilma Schanck, who must come down by gurney. By the time the patient arrives in your room, it is only 30 minutes before your lunch break. You begin by taking the chest image with Mrs. Schanck still on the gurney. After this image, you decide to move her to the table for the KUB and the decubitus views. As you move the gurney over to the radiographic table and prepare for the move, you determine that Mrs. Schanck will be unable to move on her own.

a) What is the first assessment that must be made?

b) Once this assessment is made, what is the best way to move the patient to the radiographic table?

c) For the remainder of the procedure, what is the best way to make sure the patient remains safe while in your care?

Answer 1

1. The assessments made are :-

- any tubings present ( oxygen mask ,catheters , drainage tubes) to avoid kinking , displacement of tubes

- patient wearing any metallic chains , bracelets ,rings ,watches pacemaker etc to avoid magnetic field reactions which may be fatal

- patient is nill per orally for 4-6 hrs if contrast is being used .

- ability of the patients to move from stretcher to radiographic table .

# The first assessment we do - check for any metallic object present on the patient because it will cause fatal reactions due to presence of high magnetic field in the room .

2 . After the assessment is made ,if the patient is unable to move herself from the gurney to radiographic table , help the patient by assisting her to table with the help of four persons who will hold her in right and left ends of upper and lower parts of the body to avoid injury and fall during transfer .

3. For the remainder of the procedure ,the patients should be left in the room along with a nurse , side rails of the table must be up , properly cover the patient with the bed sheet to avoid exposure . Patient should not be left alone and adequate lighting must be there in the room . There must be availablity of resuscitation equipments in the room or the nurse must have the resuscitation kit to be used in case of emergency. If the patient is having ang tubing like Foley's catheter ,oxygen tubing check for any kinking , displacement etc ,check the flow of oxygen and the saturation probe.