1. Nuclear Cardiology images
Write an APA style (min 600 work) APA style essay detailing “The technologist’s role in
acheiving Safe and the highest of Quality, Nuclear Cardiology images”.here is an example for
you Technologist’s Role in Safe and High-Quality Nuclear Cardiology ImagesWe as
technologists play a very crucial role in safe and high-quality nuclear cardiology images
because we are the experts. We are performing tests and images on the heart, which is a
very vital and complex muscle within the human body so it only makes sense that our job is
to safely perform nuclear cardiology tests on patients while providing accurate and good
quality images. Patient safety should always come before quality images, because the
patient care should be the technologist’s top priority always. As technologists it is important
to focus on the ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) philosophy and monitoring patient
dose. With the combination of both principles there should be a balance between dose and
image quality (Watson & Odle, 2013). Therefore, you are considering the patient’s safety in
the amount of radiation that they are receiving while also being mindful of what dose will
also better serve for a good enough image quality. While maintaining the ALARA philosophy
for both the technologist and patient, it is important to explain the entire procedure to the
patient and ask them if they have any questions to ensure they fully understood what scan
they are about to be taken in for(Watson & Odle, 2013). It is crucial that the technologists
inform the patient that their heart will be put under a lot of stress, but there are precautions
that are considered beforehand to ensure the risks outweigh the benefits. It is also
important to inform them that they have the chance of crashing, but there will always be a
crash cart near by and monitored the entire time during the whole study. Another thing to
keep in mind as a technologist for patient safety is to constantly meet their needs. A lot of
patients coming into the cardiology department do not have good hearts, and that is why we
perform our studies to further gather more information on their heart related problems. If a
patient does not want to have the study done, the technologist can not force the patient to
undergo the study. However, it is strongly encouraged to ensure the patient that the study
would be in their best interest in the long run to enable an accurate diagnosis and possible
treatment due to the images that were taken. Once safety concerns are addressed, it is
important to ensure good imaging protocols to ensure the best diagnosis. To ensure the
most accurate protocol is performed, it is important to have close communication between
the referring physician and all technologists who are performing the test (DiPuey et al.,
2012). All tests are patient specific, so obtaining and understanding the patient’s medical
history can be important when deciding what is best for the patient. For example, and
2. exercise stress test is preferred rather than administering a pharmacological stressor but
sometimes a patient is physically unable to perform exercise. However, it has been found
that pharmacological stressors can enhance nuclear cardiology by providing a more flexible
and broader accessibility for SPECT procedures. With the pharmacological stress agents, it
is important to know the contraindications of all also, as we the technologist are responsible
for that. It is clearly indicative that a patient centered approach will improve the overall
diagnostic and prognostic performance of MPI (DePuey et al., 2012). It is super important to
understand what the patient is experiencing to ensure they receive the correct protocol that
is given or considered. Through good radiation safety practice, strong communication, and a
good understanding of medical history the technologist should always be pristine all the
way around when it comes to patient safety. Quality patient care leads to quality images
because it is all patient specific when dealing with the heart, and within nuclear
cardiology. ReferencesDePuey, G., Mahmarian, J., Miller, T., Einstein, A., Hansen, C., Holly , T.,
. . . Wann, S. (2012). Patient-Centered Imaging. ASNC Practice Statement, 1-31.Watson , L., &
Odle, T. (2013). Patient Safety and Quality in Medical Imaging: The
Radiologic Technologist’s Role. Retrieved from American Society of Radiologic
Technologists
: https://www.asrt.org/docs/default source/research/whitepapers/asrt13_patientsafetyq
ltywhitepaper.pdf?sfvrsn=a119f22f_12
