Situational Awareness

Radiologic technology is a satisfying and rewarding career. It is a technical and refined science. As a radiological technologist, there are many essential duties and responsibilities that have to be fulfilled in order to be a good one. First of all, radiological technologists have to maintain a well-mannered and professional behavior when gathering information. They have to assure their patients that they are in good hands therefore; they give patients the uppermost quality of care and services. Second of all, the main responsibility of a healthcare provider is to keep all knowledge of a patient’s health record confidential or secluded. That means radiological technologists cannot talk about patients at home or with friends and classmates

Upon observation of the circulating nurse, I noticed that she was very interactive and involved in the surgery. One of the responsibilities of the circulating nurse is to retrieve any surgical supplies that are not available in the operating room and to make or receive any calls for the surgeon. During the surgery, I noticed the nurse call for an x-ray for the surgeon, the laboratory for biopsy samples, and the operating room floor front desk to inform them that the surgery would be later than expected. This is her responsibility as the surgeon cannot break sterility by touching the phone and it is easier for him to communicate through her and not leave the surgical site. Also in the operating room, I observed the scrub nurses’ roles. Before the operation, the scrub nurse opened all of the sterile packages, arranged them on the sterile field, and took count of what was there along with the circulating nurse. The scrub nurse did this because she is sterile during the entire procedure, and once the sterile packs are opened, the contents can only be handled by sterile personnel. The scrub nurse also was ready and waiting at the sterile field at all times to get the surgeon any equipment needed from the sterile field. This is helpful to the surgeon because it enables the surgeon to stay at the surgical site and convenient for when

Patient safety is an important factor in the nursing profession. It is of utmost importance for a nurse to be educated in patient safety before they start out in their profession. According to an article in the Journal of Nursing Education, it is vital for nursing students to learn certain skills and tasks that relate to patient safety (Tella, Liukka, et al., 2014). The goal of teaching patient safety in nursing education is to help nursing students take on real life situations to practice patient safety before applying what they learned into the real world (Tella, Liukka, et al., 2014).

Patient safety is number one in hospitals. Every staff member that comes into contact with a patient should always have the question, “Will the patient be safe?” in the back of

Safety is a small measure that can make a big impact on a patient in the clinical setting. In some cases, it can even cost patients their lives. According to the Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, safety is defined as a tool to minimize risk of harm to patients and providers through both system effectiveness and individual performance (Barnsteiner, 2011). Safety problems can range from the nurse not knowing how to work certain equipment, or the nurse recording values wrong because he or she is distracted. Either way, these safety issues impact the clinical setting in a negative way. In order to have a functional, safe clinical environment, time and money must be spent to keep the hospital in working order and the nurses in the correct mindset.

healthcare organization accrediting bodies, and to maintain credibility with patients and peers alike, must adhere to the National Patient Safety Goals. As stated by Ulrich and Kear (2014), "Not only are nurses responsible for providing safe patient care, we are also responsible for creating an environment in which others can provide safe patient care, and for being the last line of defense when needed between the patient and potential harm. Having a deep understanding of patient safety and patient safety culture allows nurses to be the leaders we need to be in ensuring that our patients are always

First, Radiology is intellectually challenging. A radiologist must integrate a broad base of clinical knowledge across organ systems and specialties with patient history and findings to transform pictures into diagnoses. Second, I believe that the communication and teamwork that are part of the radiologist’s everyday life are uniquely demanding. My interest in Radiology is deep-rooted and I possess the skills and qualities necessary to be an excellent intern and future radiologist. My volunteer work experiences have helped me refine and develop these qualities, and I have successfully applied them during my internships of nursing assistant. My pervious experiences and educations have helped me develop the ability to think visually, and pay strict attention to detail. While taking the program of Phlebotomy, I got the experience with quality control, infection control and safety procedures as well as laboratory computer systems. I have also learned to analyze and interpret data, work efficiently, and apply tools and science to solve practical problems. From my volunteer, academic, and professional experiences have affirmed my desire to pursue a career in Radiology. I am confident that I can apply these same skills to

Nurses are undoubtedly one of the most trusted professionals worldwide. Patients, family members, and doctors entrust nurses to provide the utmost quality care to sick individuals. Top priorities of all nurses are advocacy for their patients: including advocating for their physical health, holistic welfare, and utmost importantly, their safety. Patient safety will always be the top priority when providing patient care. The nurse’s responsibility during every patient encounter is to ensure that each patient under her care, receives no harm. As a direct result of the previous statement, it is crucial that every nurse knows their rights to refuse unsafe patient assignments, the process to refuse unsafe patient assignments, and the legal or ethical ramifications that could present themselves if proper judgement is not used. By understanding these rules, nurses not only achieve the responsibility of advocating for patient safety but also safeguard their careers and license.

Over the last several years, a wide variety of health care organizations have been facing a number of challenges. This is because of pressures associated with: rising costs, increasing demands and larger numbers of patients. For many facilities this has created a situation where patient safety issues are often overlooked. This is because the staff is facing tremendous amounts of pressure, long hours and more patients. The combination of these factors has created a situation where a variety of hospitals need to improve their patient safety procedures. In the case of Sharp Memorial Hospital, they are focused on addressing these issues through different strategies. To fully understand how they are able to achieve these objectives requires looking at: specific ways the organization has responded to the crisis in medical errors, their definition of patient safety, the causes of errors, systematic barriers and transformations that have been adopted. Together, these different elements will provide the greatest insights as to how the facility is coping with the crisis in patient safety.

Dr. Ardizzone’s lecture was extremely thought provoking and eye opening for me. Of the topics discussed in her lecture, it was interesting to learn about the systematic steps in place to promote patient safety in an institution. Additionally, the steps implemented at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, as part of their Crisis Resource Management initiative, is commendable.

Nursing and healthcare continue to change on a daily basis. The one thing that has remained constant during these changes is maintaining the safety of our patients. By maintaining their safety, nurses must ensure that they are keeping up-to-date with the changes in technology now being introduced in healthcare, new and emerging diseases, new equipment, and changes in treatment modalities. One such responsibility is ensuring that nurses do not operate equipment they were not oriented to or trained to use in an effort to prevent injury patients. Nurses and other healthcare professionals are being held accountable for practicing within their scope of practice based on their licensure regulations, and the company policies and procedures. Therefore, nurses are responsible for their professional growth and practice by ensuring that they comply with the necessary standards required by their profession.

The risk factors that were identified by the nurse were the patient complicated medical history, her need for pain medication frequently, being newly transferred from the surgical floor and the confusion it may cause on who will be attending to her care. The nurse also identifies that being on the unit will be an adjustment, therefore she wanted to address safety issues

The radiologists expect tech notes on each patient, unlike UCH Denver. For the most part, a tech has been by my side to make sure I obtain the correct information. Then, they check the notes students write to assess whether the notes are written well enough, giving us tips and corrections. Ed has suggested that I write down the clinical history, in short hand, of course. I have found that writing down my questions before hand ensures I do not miss my information. Students are allowed to retrieve patients from the emergency department and outpatient waiting areas. There are small changing areas and gowns available, but hardly utilized. Most patients seen in the exam rooms are already changed in the emergency department. The greatest difference I have discovered is that our patients include children and babies. Children are so much smaller and they

Although some Physicians are knowledgeable about radiation safety, others have little or no knowledge about radiation safety and does not consider this factor when ordering imaging examinations. Furthermore, non-physician health care providers may be granted the authority to order imaging studies, and their ordering patterns are likely to reflect the behavior of their supervising Physicians (American College of Radiology). Examples of non-physician health care providers include Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners. Today, radiography is widely used in the operating rooms within hospitals. Physicians, Physician Assistants, and others will use a manually operated foot switch, which is attached to the C-arm. This allows the Surgeon to

The probability of making mistakes or take a wrong decision is higher under stressful or pressure situations, especially when we have a doctor asking us to do something that sometimes it is not under our scope of practice. We as nurses have to learn how to keep it together and never loss control. We do have not only the right but the responsibility to refuse performing a procedure that we do not feel comfortable with it, particularly when the safety of our patient can be compromised. It is crucial to be aware of our skills. Not because you are allowed do it, means that you have to do it when you do not have the skills or knowledge to perform the task. It won’t make you a worse nurse to say that you do not know how to do it or that you do not