X-Ray Exposure

suzanne4, RN · Jul 25, 2005

Ususally six feet when you are not pregnant, but if there are that many films being done in your unit, they should provide you with the same cards that x-ray wears. I would speak with your manager about it. You should be out of the area when they are shooting if you are not wearing lead.

PennyLane, RN · Jul 25, 2005

I don't know the specifics, but I've heard that even 3 feet drops the exposure tremendously. And it gets exponentially smaller with every extra foot of distance between you and the machine. Any kind of barrier, like being around a corner, helps tremendously.

But I agree, speak with your manager. Can you call the radiology dept and ask them about it?

BittyBabyGrower, MSN, RN · Jul 25, 2005

Where I work, the techs get written up and reprimanded if they shoot without making sure everyone in the vicinity is clear or says just shoot I am busy. They should also have extra aprons for the workers...we keep one on the unit.

NewEnglandRN, RN · Jul 25, 2005

Hi,

6 feet is the recommended distance you should be away from the x-ray tube. However, since you are pregnant, you may want to increase that distance. The more distance between yourself & the exposure, the better off you are. Since you are in an ICU, the walls and doors (most likely) are not lead-lined.

Ask the Radiology Manager for a personal radiation detection device you can wear for the remainder of your pregnancy. This will record any accidential exposure you might have.

Also, if you absolutely can not be a safe distance away, make sure the Radiography gives you a lead apron. The Radiographer should ALWAYS announce "X-ray!" before taking the film, giving you enough time to distance yourself. Do not offer to help position patients...

Good luck!

expectant · Jul 28, 2005

I work in a busy ICU. Every morning, just about all of our patients get a portable chest X-ray. Our unit is cramped and patients are very close to one another. Since it is a trauma ICU, there are also many portable X-rays done in a day on the limbs of various patients. Does anyone know how dangerous it is for patients to be exposed to such frequent X-rays?
Also, how far should staff be away from the X-rays? No one has ever really given me a straight answer. I didn't think about it too much before, but now I'm pregnant. There must have been at least 15 X-rays done on the 3 patients in my area yesterday. I got as far away as possible for most of them, but a couple of times, I was busy with my patient and didn't get out of the way in time. Of course, I'm worried about hurting my baby. The X-ray techs wear devices that monitor their exposure, but the nurses don't.

I'm a pregnant ICU nurse, too, and I can tell you what I found out. At 6 feet away from the radiation source, there is no measurable exposure. That's true in cath lab and angio, where we sometimes have to go with our patients. I'd think that those areas use a lot more radiation than a chest or limb portable so that's good news.

The techs MUST announce "XRay" *and* give you time to get away. At my hospital they say "XRay, bay 4" so you know where they are. It's just not negotiable. But they promise me that going to the other side of the nurse's desk or anything not lead lined won't help.

People who work in cath/angio (or anywhere with XRays, I suppose) are supposed to meet with the Radiation Safety Officer for their jobs to be "counseled" on precautions to take and what is/isn't safe. I didn't have to meet with mine since I'm ICU but he was happy to talk to me and told me that as long as I stay 6 feet away I'm fine. Maybe meeting with your RSO would help you, too.

suzanne4, RN · Jul 28, 2005

Many ICUs that I have worked in, the staff were also followed by the radiation safety officer. Especially if it is a unit where there are quite a few x-rays being done frequently. One x-ray is not going to bother you, but repeated on a daily basis could.