Working around radiation during pregnancy

[Violet27]

Hey all, I'm in my first trimester working in intensive care. Often times our patients need to be taken for diagnostic testing - ct, xray, etc. I have been very careful not to take patients to X-ray or CT if possible, but today I had to bring my patient to a brain flow scan. My coworkers and the radiology tech know I'm pregnant and assured me I would be fine being in the room while the test was done (patient was very critical and needed an RN at the bedside for the scan). Is it true that the brain flow scan doesn't emit enough radiation to harm a fetus, or should I be careful not to do this again?

Thanks :)

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

The two best places for this information are your OB and your facility policy or radiation safety officer. Some facilities have no additional requirements for pregnant nurses who do not come into frequent contact with radiation and use the same precautions used for all personnel. Nurses like me, who work in the OR where imaging equipment is commonly used, are required to wear an extra dosimeter under lead at waist level to allow the radiation safety officer to monitor not only the amount of radiation the nurse receives but also the amount of radiation the fetus would receive.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

I have no idea how much radiation that scan emits but I find it interesting that your facility allows this. Any time I EVER took a patient to Radiology, the tech would ask every female in the room (nurse, nurses' aide, pt's mother, pt's post-menopausal grandmother) if she could be pregnant. Anyone who answered yes was ushered out of the room. This included tests like MRI where no radiation is used. It was a blanket policy of the Radiology Dept.

[Pepper The Cat, BSN, RN]

Did hey give you a lead apron ?

I have had to on occasion stay with a pt during X-rays and they have always given me a lead apron to wear.

[DidiRN]

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