Fast Facts for the Radiology Nurse, Second Edition

Book Preface

Many nurses who enter the specialty areas of radiology nursing come from vastly different backgrounds of our profession. Over the years,
I have worked with nurses who came to radiology from settings that include mental health, critical care, medical–surgical , ambulatory, surgical services, groups homes . . . the list is endless. They all  bring vast and unique experiential knowledge with them to the radiology setting. Becoming a radiology nurse is an excellent example  of Benner’s nursing theory of novice to expert. These nurses were  experts in their prior positions and are suddenly in an environment  that may be so very foreign to them; they will have to begin their  acquisition of knowledge and proficiency from a very uncomfortable place of being a beginner again. The journey is worth the effort:  Radiology nurses will be the first to tell others that a bad day in radiology is often better than the best day on the floors . It just is!
Learning to be a radiology nurse takes us out of the nursing lead  environment and puts us in departments that were started with radiologists and technologists. Some nurses never find comfort in this  arrangement (and leave), and others work to figure it out. The focus  of any imaging arena is to obtain great images for the radiologist to  read so the ordering provider can receive the answers they are seeking in the care and diagnosis of their patient. In the interventional  radiology suite, the patient may need a procedure that is either diagnostic or therapeutic, and again, this is performed by a physician and  a technologist at the request of the ordering provider. Nurses who  enter this specialty must be ready to be flexible and invest in their  own learning pathway.
Many sources exist to assist the nurse in this acquisition of knowledge. The Journal of Radiology Nursing diligently works to provide nurses with up-to-date information regarding our focus of practice.
The Association for Radiology and Imaging Nursing (ARIN) has  developed a core curriculum from the knowledge of a vast nursing team of volunteers. We utilize information from the American  College of Radiology (ACR), the Society of Interventional Radiology  (SIR), and a number of other organizations to enhance our knowledge.
This next edition of Fast Facts for the Radiology Nurse was written  to further serve the needs of nurses in a variety of radiology settings.  Basic information such as personal accountability, vascular access,  and contrast safety is essential for any radiology nurse. Strategies  and essential information needed when caring for the diverse patient  population who come to us with their complex health issues (physical  and emotional) are included in a streamlined fashion. Every patient  can present a uniquely challenging situation for the radiology nurse,  and there are strategies included to assist the nurse in providing them  with safe care.

Radiology departments are made up of a variety of different services. This book includes the knowledge and expertise of 43 contributors and reviewers from around the world, with the common goal of  providing the reader with basic information that will help the nurse  jump feet-first into the clinical setting of radiology nursing!
Valerie Aarne Grossma