Sorry...cannot help but join in (and I have been sedated)...
Patient hit in eye with a carrot. Bruising to lids and infra-orbital
margin. Traumatic mydriasis and blurring of vision - no hyphaema. Pain on
upward gaze but no obvious limitation. Routine X-ray request for facial
views ? orbital fracture. Radiographer stomps round to department saying-
'I've never heard anything so ridiculous. Carrots don't break bones..'
If I had had a carrot in my hand at that point ...
Now I realise that our staff do sometimes send round ridiculous requests
(usually because they don't know any better and we haven't trained them)
and that radiographers form a valuable part of the team in terms of
flagging up silly requests and suggesting additional imaging but I am jolly
fed up with having banal and somewhat repetitive discussions about
'not-indicated' x-rays.
Can someone tell me what the actual rules are that the radiographers have
latched on to as an excuse for rejecting requests ?
As far as I understand it, I am responsible for making the decision about
whether the patient needs an X-ray, I am responsible for explaining the
pros and cons of this to the patient, I am responsible for formally
requesting the test and 'prescribing the radiation' and I am responsible
for interpreting the films. The radiographer is responsible for ensuring
the technical accuracy of the images and the appropriate (and minimum
necessary) dose of radiation is used and that radiation protection
principles are followed.
But I'm happy to be corrected...
Rod
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