Kristy K

I work in a facility that has two free standing hospitals under one ownership. Over the past several years we have been trying to find ways to get both radiology(and other) departments working in similar ways. However, since the two hospitals were separate for so many years it is difficult to overcome the 'tradition' in one or the other. I was recently hired as the Radiology nurse supervisor and have been asked to stream line our Radiology nursing scope at the two hospitals. A major difference I face now is Rad RN's transporting less stable pts to and from the floors. In facility A, the floor nurse brings the pt to radiology. In facility B, the Rad nurse get the pt from the floor and take them back. The expectation of RN face to face report is becoming an issue, thus our Rad nurses are spending a large amount of time transporting. How do you get unstable pts (pts that need RN monitoring) to your department?

It is very interesting to hear these similar concerns in other places. We actually have the opposite concern here. We have had to pressure the nurses to allow techs to scrub. How we came to the point were RN's, and only RN's, scrub I'm not certain. I am a new Radiology nurse supervisor and have my work cut out for me getting techs back in the room and not just behind the controle panel.