Tag Archives: SCoR

#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 🙂

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#TOTW (x26!) #MedShift

Ciao!

This week, after securing the relevant permissions form my boss and the communications people at work, I finally took the plunge and joined the increasing number of health professionals that are using #MedShift. I was a tad wary of using it to start with to be honest  – and still am, come to that – because of the obvious issues relating to confidentiality and such like. However, this week when I was on nights I decided to tentatively dip my toes in the #MedShift ocean and below I have collated the results:

Night 1 of 4

  • 1 of 4: Handover from day shift – no outstanding portables, equipment OK(ish) I’m on 2000-0800. Let’s do this! 🏥
  • Halfway through the and after a challenging trauma patient it’s now time for a break – and relax 👍 🏥
  • Urgent portable req. for ward pt. vs. need for a CXR on ITU – 1 radiographer available – solution? Call ITU & OK to wait ✅ 🏥
  • Trauma calls, portables throughout the hospital, usual A&E patients & just 1 minor issue to handover to day shift. Job done! ✅ 🏥
  • Home safe 🏠 ☺️ Shower, tea, toast, and some tele to unwind, thence ta bed for this ‘r 🏥 1 down, 3 to go! 👍 Night peops! 🌙💤

 

Night 2 of 4

  • Great start to 2 of 4 – left the imaging detector on a patient’s trolley and had to go retrieve it from A&E! Oops! 🏥

  • Back from another trauma call – car vs. pedestrian, no plain films required ✅ as patient going to CT for scan 👍 🏥
  • This is the time in a when you just want to be at home in bed 😕 Not long to go thankfully! ✅ 🏥
  • 🏠 sweet 🏠! 2 down & 2 to go! 👍 After the necessary ablution & food it will be time 4 the best part of a – BEDTIME! ✅ 🏥

 

Night 3 of 4

  • A splash of Issey Miyake and I’m good to go! 3 of 4 here I go! 🏥 (Other EDTs are available! 😂)
  • Off on my first portable of the shift – elderly male too unwell to come down to the department. Not uncommon on a 🏥
  • Another chest/abdo request! Prob the most common combination imaging request! Male, abdo pain, vomiting, obstruction, query perf 🏥
  • Back from another portable – this time an elderly lady with difficulty breathing & definitely too unwell to come down to dept 🏥
  • Into the “golden hour” – the final hour of the 👍✅ Soon be time for 🏠 & 💤💤💤 after this 🏥
  • When you get home & realise there are chunks of the journey you just don’t remember – not good 😔 Just 1 more to go ✅ 🏥

 

Night 4 of 4

  • The ‘Q’ word is something we don’t mention – a bit like the Scottish play 😂 🏥
  • Last & I’ve yet to do probably the 2nd most common combo of foot&ankle – most unusual! 🏥
  • Preparations for departure! 4 of 4 done! Hope you’ve enjoyed my first foray into ✅👍🎉😴 L8rs!!!hometime

So there you have it – a set of nights in a nutshell. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed taking a look at them to get a glimpse of what it’s like as a radiographer on nightshift. I’ll continue to use #MedShift as and when, but I don’t intend to tweet every shift, all shift! It’s more to give an insight into the work we do – as not everyone knows what a radiographer is and does 🙂

Hopefully newly qualified radiographers can also get an idea of what lies ahead when they start on shift!

Oh well, as ever, feedback always appreciated!

Ben 🙂

#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 🙂

 

#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 17-08-15 ‘New NICE guidelines up for consultation’

Afternoon all!

How quickly the week passes by and it’s time for yet another #TOTW! This week I have decided to flag up the new NICE guidelines that are out for consultation:

New guidelines from up for consultation including those on &

The documents might not make for a riveting read, but if like myself you are involved in the care of patients either in a pre-hospital or hospital setting, then it would be worth casting your eye over them. They will give you an idea of what NICE’s current thinking is in regard to the management of major trauma services and fractures.

The link above is to the webpage of the Society of Radiographers’ which will in -turn take you to the NICE website and provide the guidelines, both in full and in summary that you might care to have a look at.

Like I said above, it might not be sexy, but then a lot of the stuff that we do as allied health professionals just isn’t!

As a former school master was once keen on saying, “read, learn and inwardly digest!” Isn’t that right Mr. Jackman? I hope he agrees from “up above!”

Until the next time…

Ben

#TipsForNewRads – 10 things to know for theatre radiography

Adding to the #TipsForNewRads that have been appearing on #SoMe over the last couple of weeks, I thought I might add to the mix with a list of things to know when going to theatre. I know that students will already have experienced going to theatre as part of clinical placement, but some may not have spent as much time in there as others. It is by no means an exhaustive checklist, more general observations from my time in theatre to date!

Anyways, here goes:

  1. Take part in the team brief if you can. I always join in if i’m up in theatre when it’s going on. You often find out more information about the patient and also what the surgeon is intending to do, and how.
  2. Always introduce yourself to theatre staff you’ve not met before.
  3. Check your image intensifier is clean before using it. Not all people are as thorough as you may be when it comes to cleaning – blood gets EVERYWHERE on a C-arm!
  4. If you’re unsure of how to go ahead with a procedure, or for example it may be a surgeon you’ve not worked with before, NEVER be afraid to ask what they want, or how they want you to position your image intensifier and monitors.
  5. You are an integral part of the operating team, not just an add-on, so get involved! Don’t just restrict yourself to the radiography side of things. You should help in the transfer of patients, clean up between cases, make notes if asked, get things if you aren’t busy x-raying. The more you get involved, the more the theatre staff will appreciate you and help you when you need.
  6. At the end of the procedure, if you are unsure which images to save, then again, just ask the surgeon – never assume!
  7. Always clean your image intensifier after use and leave it in a state which you would like to use it.
  8. If you don’t send and/or process the images from your case yourself, it is your responsibility to ensure that this gets done.
  9. Always communicate with the main department. Theatre lists change all the time. You may have just popped up to theatre for a “quick” MUA, only to find out that they need you all day! It helps whoever is in charge of running X-ray for theatres to plan the day if you keep in touch with them.
  10. ENJOY! Theatre radiography is a great part of your role as a diagnostic radiographer. You get to meet and be part of several different theatre teams. You will learn a lot!

There you have it! Like I said, not everything you need to know, but hopefully a useful list for newbies! Please feel free to comment on what i’ve said, or add your own handy hints!

#TOTM from 10-05-15 “#SoR WEEK”

Hey, hey, hey!

Welcome to my very first #TOTM or as you have probably already guessed “Tweet Of The Month!” On the first day of each new month I will be selecting a tweet from the previous month that stands out for me as one of my favourites. It might be an existing #TOTW as in this case, it might be a favourite, or it might even be a tweet that after trawling through my month’s worth of tweets I re-discovered and felt it deserved a chance!

Anyways, here it is, my #TOTM from May:

http://wp.me/p4r8be-4j

I hope it gives you another opportunity to take a look at some of the great work that the Society of Radiographers and it’s members do. There are a growing number of us, along with other allied health professionals that are trying to make the most of social media to keep in touch and to share knowledge, whilst in the meantime having fun in the process!

Thanks for all your continued support. I hope you continue to get in touch, like, share, and follow me and my endeavours!

Here’s to June and all it brings…other than my 40th birthday that is!

Ben 🙂

#TOTW (x21!) Yep, you guessed it…”#SoRWEEK”

“Hello, good evening and welcome” (to quote the late, great Sir David Frost) …to the second feature week on radiographerben.

It has been – for those of you that hadn’t already noticed – #SoRWEEK. Last week, for the first time, I decided to have a feature week, and kicked it all off with #NHSWEEK. The idea of a theme to base my tweeting around was, or at least, appeared to me, to be fairly well-received, and so I decided to go straight into another feature week…lucky you!

I decided to choose my own professional body, and to base this last week’s tweets around the work of the Society and College of Radiographers (SCoR). I could have tweeted many more times than I did, however, I didn’t want to go overboard (whether I succeeded or failed in this, please let me know!) I wanted to get across what the SCoR does and the varied work and research that it is involved in. I hope I also succeeded in this aim!?

Here for your delectation – and future use (hopefully!) is the complete list of the week that was #SoRWEEK:

1. Do you know? What is radiography? Who are radiographers?

2. Here’s another chance to see my blog entry “A Day in the Life of…” This is what we do!

3. OK, so this doesn’t sound very exciting, but it’s handy! ‘New feature for SoR document library‘

4. Radiography, 21(1), Feb 2015, 11-15, ‘Radiology responsibilities post NPSA guidelines for nasogastric tube insertion‘

5. Great to see that ‘SoR to tackle issues‘

6. (1/3) Radiography, 21(2), May 2015, 108-109, ‘Editorial: Radiography research as a global community‘

7. (2/3) Radiography, 21(2), May 2015, 141-145, ‘The introduction, deployment and impact of assistant practitioners in..’

8. (3/3) Radiography, 21(2), May 2015, 146-149, ‘An exploration of adolescents’ perceptions of X-ray examinations’

9. I&TP, May 2015, 27-30, ‘Missed opportunities? Chest x-ray quality: The implications for early lung cancer diagnosis‘

10. , May 2015, 18-19, ‘SCoR launches new three-year strategy‘ Available online to at

11. (1/3) Radiography, 21(2), May 2015, 160-164, ‘Student radiographers’ attitudes toward the older patient‘

12. (2/3) Radiography, 21(2), May 2015, 165-171, ‘The Radiographer’s multidisciplinary team role in theatre scenarios’

13. (3/3) Radiography, 21(2), May 2015, 188-196, ‘AP vs PA … in lumbar spine CR: Image quality & individual organ doses‘

14. Get involved and have *YOUR* say as consults on ethics and conduct

15. Want to learn for free? Go to ‘e-LfH launches new learning system‘

16. Read this great blog about how we should start to tell the future generation about and our profession: RT : Today on the blog – Inspiring a Future Generation of Radiographers

17. (1/2) Radiography, 21(1), Feb 2015, 47-53, ‘A taxonomy of anatomical & pathological entities to support commenting…‘

18. (2/2) Radiography, 21(1), Feb 2015, 3-6, ‘Protocols & guidelines for mobile chest radiography in Irish…hospitals’

19. As comes to an end, I want to highlight the work my radiotherapy colleagues and their work

20. (1/2) encore! Another great article to mention and available online to in Radiography Vol 21(2)

21. (2/2) May 2015, e74–e80 ‘Social media: The next frontier for professional development in radiography‘

Now then, I could write a piece about each tweet, but that would make for an exceptionally long blog, and as I hope you’d know by now, that’s not my thing! Having said that, this is the longest to date I believe! However, I hope you will find it a useful resource. I also hope that you have enjoyed this last week as much as I have. It’s been great to shine a light on the work that my professional body is involved in, and to help educate people as to what it is we radiographers do!

I would really appreciate any feedback (for those of you that have made it to the end of this blog and are actually reading this bit!) as one of the main things I have enjoyed the most this week has been the interaction with my followers and fellow healthcare professionals. It’s great that we can use social media to connect with people all over the world and use it to share our experiences and knowledge. I truly believe it is a tool that we as radiographers, and other healthcare professionals, can use to enhance not only the knowledge of our own subject, but also to educate the wider public as to the work we do.

Thanks again to all those who have made the effort to get this far, and to those of you that helped make this last week, the most successful week on social media since I “created” radiographerben last year!

Please keep following and interacting with me…it’s the best bit!

A Day in the Life of a Radiographer

hellomynameis

By Ben Stuttard (Band 5, Diagnostic Radiographer)

I work shifts and there is no regular start time to my day, but typically I’ll be working something like an 8.30am-5pm “flat day” or an 8am-8pm “long day.” As I live a 45-60 minute drive away from work, this can mean the alarm going off at 5.45am when on a long day.

For an 8am start, we like to get in for about 7.45am to relieve the night staff who have been on from 8pm the evening before. The shift begins in the X-ray department in Accident & Emergency (A&E). Once the night shift has handed over any issues (any outstanding X-ray requests, any equipment issues and such like), then it’s down to cleaning! This is usually all over and done by 8.30am, by which time it’s usually time to move to another department for the majority of the day.

Most likely this will be Inpatients. It is here that any patients staying in the hospital who require an X-ray will come for their examination. It is from here that portable X-rays are also coordinated. If a patient is too ill to come down to the department, then we will go up to them on the ward with one of our portable X-ray machines.

Another part of the work I do is taking X-rays whilst patients are in the operating theatre. This work is also coordinated from the Inpatient department, where the day begins at 8.30am with cleaning the X-ray room and getting it ready for the day’s list. I or one of my colleagues will then contact each of the several theatres to ask if they have any cases on their list that require X-ray to be present. Once we have established which theatres need us and at what time of the day, then the day really begins!

If I am required to go to theatre, then it’s a case of grabbing a pair of theatre clogs and a key for one of the mobile X-ray machines and heading off. It’s very likely that I’ll end up in the A&E Trauma theatre. Sometimes this will involve taking one of the Student Radiographers we have in the department up to theatre with me to show them what we do. The list usually comprises patients who have injured themselves the day before, or maybe during the night.

On arrival in the theatre suite I’ll go to get changed into theatre scrubs and then take the X-ray equipment into theatre. Once I have checked what the first case is I can then start setting up the equipment in the correct position before the patient is brought into theatre. Sometimes we are needed just for one or two cases; other times a radiographer is required in theatre all day. Once I’m no longer required, then I need to clean the equipment and take it out of theatre, send the images taken in theatre to the hospital network (so that the surgeons can review them at a later date), get changed out of scrubs and head back down to the department.

Being on a long day invariably means that I’ll go on first lunch at about midday. After lunch it’s possible that I’ll be required to go back up to theatre, or if not then I’ll stay down in the department and X-ray inpatients either in the department or on the wards with the mobile equipment.

After an early break for tea it will be down to myself and a colleague, also on an 8-8 shift, to relieve the day staff in the A&E X-ray department. If there are still theatre cases in progress, then this may mean heading back up to theatre. It’s not uncommon on an 8-8 shift to end up in theatre at least two or three times during the day. If theatres are finished then I will stay down in A&E from where we will continue to X-ray those inpatients who were unable to come down before 5pm, as well as the patients coming through the door in A&E. The time between 5-8pm is more often than not the busiest period of the day, which at least means it usually goes quickly!

As we relieve the night staff before 8am in the morning, so usually the night staff come in a bit early to relieve us. Before we can go however, as the night shift handed over to us in the morning, we need to make sure that we hand over any existing issues from the day to the night staff. Once this is done, then it’s time for the drive home, a shower, usually some TV to unwind and then bed before getting up to do the same again the following day, as when we do 12 hour shifts, we tend to do either three or four of them in a row which doesn’t leave much time for a social life! The benefits, however, are three or four days off duty that usually follow a period of long days, or nights come to that.

I’ve been qualified for two and a half years now, and I still learn something new every day. Every patient is different. Every day is different.

© Ben Stuttard 2015 Continue reading →

#TOTW (from: 18-09-14) ‘Travelling home from…’

Hello again!

This week I’ve been on a course just outside Birmingham, and so as you may have noticed it’s been a relatively “light” week as far as tweeting goes! It does however, mean that this week’s #TOTW is:

Travelling home from the course just outside Birmingham. Great course *and* got to meet some really nice people!

The course was an induction for becoming a Union Learning Representative, which I am in my department at Aintree University Hospital. I had such a great time meeting fellow radiographers, both diagnostic and therapeutic. It was also great to meet a number of officers from the Society, particularly Kevin Tucker, Louise Coleman and Sue Johnson. We were shown how to use tools that will enable us to record our continued professional development (CPD), and how to promote the benefits of this to our management and more importantly to our members.

One of the main things that I took from the course was that CPD needs to be done in bite-size chunks. It’s not just a nice thing to do, but a necessity for our professional registration. I’m one of those types that puts things off until I feel i’ve got enough time to complete a task. It’s not possible! So, I need to learn to break CPD up into smaller bite-size chunks and to record it regularly.

So, if you’re a radiographer and *NOT* currently a member of the SCoR, then please, please, please take a look at the website and give it some serious consideration. If you *ARE* already, then I hope you are taking advantage of the great benefits that stem from being a member of your professional body!

http://www.sor.org/

That’s all folks!