Tag Archives: Radiology

December 2016 #4PUF

Ciao!

As per usual, here is my #4PUF selection for the month just past:

(4/4) This would also help radiographers justify requests! The more info you give, the easier it is to justify them! @SCoRMembers #4PUF “PLEASE Referring clinicians, put all the clinical history on your imaging requests!! It can make such a difference when we report them!”

bozzvid

(3/4) To quote a former Prime Minister, “Education, education, education.” #LGBTI+ #4PUF “95% of young people don’t learn about LGBT relationships at school. That’s simply not good enough.” http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/schoolboy-killed-himself-shortly-after-9498762?ICID=FB_mirror_mainzenon-bartlett

(2/4) Do you think you might be able to help someone and #EndLoneliness? #befriending @age_uk @TheSilverLineUK #4PUF “We loved meeting Roy this morning: he’s been suffering from loneliness since his wife died but an @Age_UK befriending service has helped…” https://twitter.com/BBCBreakfast/status/805715104322887680

(1/4) Take a look at this #WhereIsDisfigurement campaign from @FaceEquality #EqualityandInclusion #4PUF “Yesterday we launched our #WhereIsDisfigurement campaign. Have you taken a look yet?” http://qoo.ly/ci2mmchangingfaces

That’s your lot for 2016 folks – more #4PUFs to follow in the coming year!

Thanks for reading, watching and listening!

Ben

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#TOTW (x17) #MedShift is back!

Ciao!

I know I’m a few days late with this, but i’ve been enjoying my off duty – post #MedShift! As with the last time I did this, I thought it might be an idea to collate all my posts into a sort of journal, and so here they are…recorded yet again for posterity:

Thursday (1/4)

  • After off duty days it’s time to return to #MedShift with 4 long days, 1 x 10-8 shift today then 3 x 8-8 days #NotMyFavourite @SCoRMembers
  • Starting the day in #Outpatients – GP referrals & clinic follow-ups. Can be anything from head to toe! #BringItOn @SCoRMembers #Medshift
  • Time for an early tea then off to A&E for the final part of the #MedShift – quite often the busiest part of the day! #DeepJoy @SCoRMembers
  • #Medshift 1 of 4 done ✅ 3 more to go! Last part of the shift wasn’t all that bad thankfully. Hometime. Shower, tea n’ tele ☺️👍 @SCoRMembers

 

Friday (2/4)

  • Handover from nightshift ✅ Rooms cleaned ✅ Resus trolley checked ✅ Left AED to come to #Outpatients again #MedShift day 2 👍 @SCoRMembers
  • Am in #FractureClinic this morning and just been shown how to do a standing axial calcaneum ✅ #EverydayASchoolDay #MedShift @SCoRMembers
  • #MedShift ends with a #traumacall – no plain film imaging required as patient going to CT! Handover to nightshift ✅ Hometime! ✅ @SCoRMembers

 

Saturday (3/4)

  • #MedShift 3/4 underway & it’s the weekend so running X-Ray’s from AED. Inpatients, mobiles, theatres the lot! #SeeWhatGives! ✅ @SCoRMembers
  • Halfway through the #MedShift, just finished lunch & theatre have called – just an MUA today ✅ Off I go! 👍 @SCoRMembers #ChangeOfScenery
  • Straight from the MUA to another theatre & an emergency pacing – not done one of those in a while #BitRusty 😱 ✅ #MedShift @SCoRMembers
  • Home at last, after a long #MedShift! Lots of portables today. ITU, amongst others keeping us busy, as per usual! 🛀 time! ✅ @SCoRMembers

 

Sunday (4/4)

  • Tired only scratches the surface of how I feel 2day 😴 Let’s hope a large brew & 3 x Weetabix enable me to get to #MedShift 4/4 @SCoRMembers
  • Couple of knees ✅ couple of portable chests ✅ resus trolley checked ✅ #MedShift 4/4 well & truely underway! @SCoRMembers
  • 2 patients, 2 fractures. One the worst fracture I’ve ever seen, the other just a minor one. Shaping up to be a varied #MedShift @SCoRMembers
  • Back from theatre – 2 x MUAs ✅ Time to do the processing from the day’s theatre cases (x5) – #RealitiesOfTheJob #MedShift @SCoRMembers
  • Head-to-toe X-rays ✅ Portables ✅ Trauma Calls ✅ Theatre ✅ #MedShift complete! Now for some off duty days! 👍🎉🎈#OverAndOut @SCoRMembers

 

Monday (off-duty)

  • The ☀️ is shining, yet I still feel like I have a hangover – without the headache! Thankfully no #MedShift today! 😂 #shattered @SCoRMembers

 

The great thing about doing this is the interaction I get from my tweets, as well as me being able to share things about what it’s really like to be an allied health professional.

You certainly don’t learn this kind of stuff from a textbook!

I hope you enjoyed. Until the next time.

Ben 🙂

#UKRC2016

Hey, hey, hey!

Can you guess where i’ve been today then? Seeing as i’ve tweeted quite a few times throughout the day about it then i’m sure those that also follow me on Twitter will be well aware i’ve spent the day in Liverpool at the United Kingdom Radiological Congress, otherwise referred to as #UKRC2016:

http://www.ukrc.org.uk/

What a great day its been! From sitting down at 0810hrs to listen to speakers talk about the latest techniques and protocols in trauma radiology, to why and how we can improve the standing of the radiography profession through research. I thoroughly enjoyed the day looking at all the posters and attending the talks. There is just so much to learn and take back to my department! Below you will find all my tweets from today, and as the first one shows, the highlight of the day for me was meeting one of my fellow #SoMe type people @jstjohnmatthews, or Janice, as she is indeed more than just a Twitter handle now!

The whole day has just got me totally pumped up and enthusiastic about doing so many things. I’m realistic enough to know that I won’t get stuck into all of them, but at least I have no excuses as to not having things to be getting on with – now that i’ve completed my postgrad!

I just have to decide where to begin!

Enjoy!

Ben 🙂

Home after a great day ! Highlight has to be meeting up with ukrc_home

 

Last session of the day ‘Where’s the evidence – research…’ ukrc_lastsession

 

Here we go! Professional use of ukrc_SoMe

 

in ukrc_EI

 

Next up is ‘Education development & controversies’ to see talk about

Oh well, coffee on the go and off to in RM3B Anyone else going to this one?

Hi ho! hi ho! It’s off to I go! Hopefully to meet up with some of my fellow types!

#TOTW (x9) #CPDWeek

Ciao!

As has become customary following one of my theme weeks, this week’s #TOTW is a summary of all the tweets related to the theme – that being CPD, so here they all are:

I hope those of you actively involved in radiography have, and will continue to find this a useful resource for CPD 🙂

More theme weeks are planned for the coming months. Feedback appreciated – as always!

Enjoy!

Ben 🙂

 

2015 – my blogging year in review

Happy new year folks!

Apparently the busiest day of the year for visits to my blog was a year ago today with my post ‘A day in the life of a radiographer.’ Also my most commented on post was the one I wrote about #TipsForNewRads in relation to theatre work.

I will try and come up with some more original work this year to go with my weekly blogs!

Thanks for following, visiting, commenting or however it is you interact with me!

Stay tuned this year and let’s see what happens!

Ben

 

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,900 times in 2015. If it were a cable car, it would take about 48 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

#TOTW from 03-12-15 ‘Plain film: YES or NO?’

Ciao!

So then, another week and another Twitter poll is the topic of my #TOTW:

Does the term imaging devalue the work we do? I don’t think so

So, you can see the question – what do you think? The results of the poll – admittedly only 10 people – showed that 70% said NO, use of the term plain film did not devalue the work we do, with the remaining 30% feeling that it does. As I stated in the Twitter poll itself, I do not believe that referring to ‘plain film’ imaging devalues the work I do as a diagnostic radiographer. Yes, I agree it is outdated as we no longer use films in imaging, and OK, so maybe there’s nothing ‘plain’ about what we do, but it’s descriptive. People know what we are referring to when we use the term.

This years Annual Delegates Conference saw a motion to see a change to the use of the term. It begs the question, does it really matter? I know that I have spent 3 years at university and worked hard in order to be able to do what I do, and I am happy to use the ‘outdated’ term. It does what is says on the tin. OK, so maybe it is inaccurate, but I don’t at present see anything better out there to replace it with. For example, it has been suggested by some that ‘primary’ imaging would be better. However, ‘plain film‘ is not always the primary form of imaging these days, particularly in a trauma scenario when a patient more often that not takes a trip through a CT scanner before making their way to X-ray! Also I don’t feel that ‘primary’ imaging is descriptive enough as to the type of imaging that is taking place. Another of the alternatives suggested is that of ‘general‘ imaging. Now OK, so this is a term that I know is in use a bit more and when I was interviewed for my Band 6 position it was for ‘General and Trauma Imaging.’ However, the general bit still doesn’t really work for me either to be honest! I say if ain’t broke – don’t fix it! Until someone comes up with an obviously more descriptive and up-to-date term then I shall continue to use the term ‘plain film.’

What do you think? Answers in a comment to…

Ben 🙂

November’s #TOTM from 29/11 ‘Terms of endearment’

Hola!

The biggest response I had from tweets/posts this month was to do with the use of terms of endearment with patients, so the winner of November’s #TOTM award goes to…

from 24-11-15 ‘Terms of endearment’

No need for me to go over the same stuff here again, but suffice as to say i’ve been discussing this with colleagues since my original tweet and I haven’t changed how I interact with my patients! I would certainly be interested to do some research into this subject, but that will have to wait until the postgrad is finished next Spring!

For those of you that have already clicked on the link and read my original post, then thanks for popping by again! For those that are seeing it for the first time, then please feel free to drop me a line and give me your opinions and experiences!

Only one more #TOTM to go until my very first #TOTY!

Ben 🙂

#TOTW from 08-10-15 ‘Consent is not something to be regarded as optional – it is not’

Ciao!

“Hi, my name’s Ben. I’m one of the radiographers and i’ll be taking your X-rays today. Is that OK?”

That’s how I greet pretty much each and every one of my patients. It tells them who I am; what my role is; what i’ll be doing and most importantly of all, seeks their permission to proceed with the examination. Whether it’s “just” a chest X-ray or an examination that requires me to touch them in areas that most people would reasonably consider their personal space, gaining consent is an essential part of my role as a qualified health professional. It is not something I do because it’s nice, courteous and reasonable to do, but moreover it is required by the codes of conduct of The Society and College of Radiographers (SCoR) of which I am a member, and also the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) with whom I am registered as an allied healthcare professional.

The reason for me telling you all this, is because of the tweet I have chosen as my #TOTW:

is not something to be regarded as optional – it is not

If you’re interested to find out more, then take a look at the link and watch the short video to see what its all about. As I tell all the students that we teach, introducing yourself and gaining consent is a necessity, not just a nicety!

Until the next time…

Ben

#TOTW from 16/03/15 “We must, and can, do much more to value HCAs and to invest in them”

Greetings!

Even though “It’s not just about bones,” this week I have retweeted a number of images for educational purposes, as they are interesting to look at and have been viewed a good number of times, so I will continue to do so!

However, I have still put out some of my “usual” tweets covering topics other than radiography. The one I have chosen for my #TOTW is:

“We must, and can, do much more to value and to invest in them” XRay HCAs are great!

Not a lot really needs to be said here, other than the work HCAs do is incredibly important, and the NHS would grind to halt without them. I know from my own experience in the X-ray department of my hospital that on days like to day, with another busy 12hr shift, it would be impossible to do the work we do without the support we get from our HCAs.

There’s no such thing as “I’m just an HCA!” HCAs are an integral part of the team. Simple as that.

#TOTW (from: 16-01-15) From ‘Practical Procedures in Orthopaedic Trauma Surgery (2014)’

This week I’ve decided to keep it simple and post something that I, and many of my friends and colleagues found most amusing:

competent radiographer

Taken from ‘Practical Procedures in Orthopaedic Trauma Surgery’ 2nd edn. (2014) Editors: Peter V. Giannoudis and Hans-Cristoph Pape.

Suffice as to say, I wasn’t offended when it was shown it to me!

Also, as i’ve been lucky enough to gain almost an extra 30 followers since new year I thought i’d take this opportunity to let them (and those that may not know already!) what my regular tweets are:

#TOTW or ‘Tweet of the Week’ – this is when, as i’m doing in this post, I pick something from amongst all my tweets/retweets from the previous week and give it another chance to gain the light of publicity!

#TTT or ‘Ted Talk Tuesday’ – is when I pick a TED Talk, usually related to the things I tweet about, although occasionally not. There are so may interesting TED Talks available, it’s often hard to pick one!

#14TW or ‘One For The Weekend’ – is where I post either a photo, video or a link to a story that I think is fun or interesting and NOT related to my usual tweeting content.

I’m always open to suggestions about new topics on which to tweet, so please feel free to get in touch and let me know. It would be great to hear from you!

I will now be taking a 2 week break from #TOTW whilst on on holiday. I’ll still be tweeting whilst i’m away, but I won’t be selecting a #TOTW for the next couple of weeks.

As Arnie once said, “I’ll be back!”