Still on Chest & Abdomen
In my radiographic positioning class and lab, we are still working on chest and abdomen positioning and projection techniques. We are about to wrap up the class work and will be tested next Wednesday. We should be testing on those positioning techniques in lab very soon as well. I’m really looking forward to getting that lab test out of my way so I can start collecting some comps in clinical. In today’s lab, we did nothing but practice the chest and abdomen series on each other… three hours worth of that. We’re all (for the most part) feeling really comfortable with them already, but there are still a few quirks that pop up. The fun part of this process is that we are never allowed to slip up and miss something. The rest of the group is offering critique as we go, reminding us of things we miss and forget, so we’re still learning. Since there are only 4 positions we are working on, it’s getting a little redundant though. These positions are the AP and Lateral Chest, and the Supine KUB and Upright abdomen. We’re not practicing the decubitus abdomen. We aren’t being tested on it because it’s not a common procedure.
During our labs, we often find ourselves discussing what we have seen/heard/done in our clinical environments. One of the biggest problems we all agree on is that clinical creates an additional challenge for us in what we are learning. We are learning the correct and proper procedures in class and lab. In clinical, we are watching RTs perform these same tasks, and they are not using proper technique in many cases. Several items we all notice is failure to use standard precautions. The major violation we see regularly is failure to wear gloves. I realize that body fluid contact isn’t highly likely with a lot of patients, but is it really worth the risk to ignore some simple safety precautions when it doesn’t take much effort to be protected? As long as the gloves are available, I’ll be wearing them. I’m a little uneasy about making that recommendation to the RTs in question though. I’m just a lowly student ;) Shielding is another area where I see RTs falling down on the job. If a woman is past her child-bearing years, is that excuse enough not to roll out a shield in front of her lower abdomen during a chest series? I don’t know… all I know is the reading and work I have done in lab requires that we do it.
Watching it done improperly in clinical by RTs doesn’t make it easier for us to remember proper practices when we are doing it in our lab environment.
We all get out of our clinical at 1230 on Thursday instead of 2pm. We’re having a covered-dish picnic with the 2nd year students at a local park. We don’t get to interact with the 2nd year class at all, so these little social events should be nice…