radiology nurse? im need of some enlightenment

Specialties Radiology

Published

Specializes in tele, icu.

:wink2::specs: ive not heard of radiology nurses before but am very interested in them. is it similar to being on the floor? say, telemetry? im going to be relocating to new york in 6 months or so and was looking through the career section of mount sinai and i saw that they had a lot of openings for radiology nurses so i was wondering if any of you could enlighten me about your career.

any info, little or lots, would greatly appreciated.

thanks much :yeah::up::heartbeat

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Specializes in RETIRED Cath Lab/Cardiology/Radiology.

I just did a site search using the words "radiology nurse duties" and came up with many links to threads discussing this very question.

Three of them are:

allnurses.com/forums/f109/radiology-tech-vs-radiology-nurse-161941.html

allnurses.com/forums/f109/radiology-nurse-question-35985.html

allnurses.com/forums/f8/what-exactly-does-radiology-nurse-do-227121.html

Good luck! :)

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I have been a pediatric radiology nurse for 6 year. Depending on where you work, it can involve sedation (which is mostly what I do). There are some nurses that work in Interventional radiology which is more like OR procedures with sterile fields and handing instuments while using fluoroscopy or ultrasound. From a sedation standpoint, the nurse and physician do a presedation history and physical, I draw up the sedation drugs and start the IV, prepare the room with bag/mask/suction, participate with getting the child sedated and on the mri/ct scanner and monitor vs throughout the scan. I also recover the patient and then discharge them or return inpatients to their rooms. I like it because it's fast paced and always different. As with most units, we do get "frequent fliers" that you get to know well and grow close to. I would definitly reccommend it!!

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I started in Radiology Nursing about 8 years ago and have gone worked from staff nurse to supervisor and now am the Nurse Manager of Imaging Services.

There are a couple of considerations that you should make before you jump into this arena of Nursing:

While most people would not consider Radiology nursing all that challenging or requiring expertise, I would beg to differ. Radiology Nurses must have excellent critical thinking skills, decisive judgment and unmatched assessment skills as they are often the first responders to any emergency occurring in the Radiology department. These emergencies can range from Severe Allergic reactions, complications of sedation and the most challenging the patient that "crumps" while in the radiology department that have originated from the ED, nursing units or an Outpatient that has no documented health history to work from.

Also you should consider that working in a Radiology department is a completely different atmosphere as traditional nursing units. When interviewing nurses for our department I explain that all members of the Multidisciplinary team are required to be able to provide safe, diagnostic patient focused care. The technologist main focus/training is to obtain the highest quality diagnostic images, while the nurses are focus is to provide the safest, high quality continuum of care for that patient while in our department. Each are equally important to achieving our departmental goals.

I think you might find the following links helpful as you make you decision:

http://www.acr.org/ this link provides standards of practice in the various modalities of Radiology.

https://www.arinursing.org/ This is the National Association of Radiology Nurses and there is a great deal of information and support that you might find helpful if you choose to join our profession.

Although Radiology nursing has it's challenges, I find the blend of advanced technology and caring (*nursing) a very fulfilling career.

*I had a nursing professor that was an excellent teacher that drove home the importance and differentiation of nursing and medicine as that Physicians focus on CURING while nurses focus is on CARING.

Good Luck!

arnfinally

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I am a ED RN looking to make a change. I saw job opportunities for radiology nursing and it sounds very exciting and like something that I may really be interested in. The only problem is I have a pacemaker. Any idea if this would make me unemployable as a radiology nurse?

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Specializes in Emergency Department/Radiology.

To Sugar383,

Yes, as a radiology nurses you may be required to be involved with MRI patients having a pacemaker would make you inelligable for that modality, however, there are many other areas of Radiology you would be able to work in.

I absolutely agree with arnfinally. Nurses in radiology are the "go to" folks for all modalites, nurses are the core to helping the department function with patient care and safety in mind. Most all of the 23 nurses who work in my department have critical care background. The combination of constantly changing technology and the application of nursing care is interesting, stimulating and rewarding.

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Specializes in RETIRED Cath Lab/Cardiology/Radiology.

ITA, Radnurse54. "Interesting, stimulating and rewarding." :up: :up:

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Specializes in Emergency Department/Radiology.

sure, how can I help you?

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Specializes in Transplant, MedSurg, Rad.

I work in IR and heres what my job entails.....

Traffic controll between the floors, icu's,mds and ANes when we use them.

Look out for Pt saftey at all times allergies getting on and off table safley.

Sedation - keeping them comfortable durring procedure - alot of calling reports to floors explaining what we did.

Alot of Moving pts

Cleaning sumtimes i feel like a janitor

Helping getting sterile trays ready - stockin rooms with suplies

Its not ur regular nursing duties its very unique

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Specializes in ICU/CCU/Oncology/CSU/Managed Care/ Case Management.

Thanks Bootsy for posting that. In this field are you exposed to a very dangerous amount of radiation? I am child bearing age and am concerned about this. I see there is a position where I live for Radiology and was asked for interview but I am not quite sure. Thanks.

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Specializes in Psych, LTC/SNF, Rehab, Corrections.

I'm an ex xray/ct tech and never dealt with Rad nurses. :D

Interesting...

Could've helped when it came time to cath the 'little ones' for VCUG's.

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I've just started rad - about 2.5 months now, and work doing CT, MRI, Interventional (CT + US guided), and sedation for peds doing MRI. I do a lot of screening for safety, IV starts, and sedation. It is a great place to work but things can turn into an emergency fast. What is really important, it seems, is being very flexible and working as a team. Believe it or not, people code here all the time - not as much as in the ED or ICU but way more than a step down/PCU or floor.

my main skills are: IVs, IVs, IVs. Emergency response to allergic reaction (just had one today in the MRI scanner next to me, but I couldn't leave as I had a sedated kid. Talk about akward...). Safe administration of IV contrast and sedation medications. Management of sedated patients. Competent screening skills as this can easily be a life saver.

Screening is important. I can't emphasize this enough. The allergic reaction that I witnessed today was very severe and the nurse did appropriately triage the patient and knew she was allergic to magnevist but the MRI tech did not read the nursing screening document and contrasted the patient. Instant emergency.

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