Safety in nuclear medicine: Responsibilities of health professionals
Frequently asked questions by the health professionals
? What are my main responsibilities as a nuclear medicine specialist??
? What are my main responsibilities as a nuclear medicine technologist??
? What are my main responsibilities as a medical physicist in nuclear medicine??
? What are my main responsibilities in radiation protection as a nuclear medicine specialist?
You have the primary responsibility for ensuring overall radiological protection of patients and to:
- Ensure?that each medical exposure is justified in consultation with the referring physician;?
- Ensure?that the exposure of patients is the minimum required to achieve the intended objective, taking into account the relevant guidance levels for medical exposure;?
- Establish?optimized protocols for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, in consultation with the medical physicist and technologist;?
- Provide?criteria to manage the examination of pregnant women, paediatric patients, medico-legal procedures, occupational health examinations and medical and biomedical research;?
- Evaluate?any radiation incident or accident from a medical point of view.?
? What are my main responsibilities as a nuclear medicine technologist?
As technologist you have a key position in protection of the patient. Your responsibilities and duties are to:
- Identify the patient;?
- Inform the patient;?
- Inform accompanying persons and staff nursing a patient after a nuclear medicine examination or therapy;?
- Verify that the female patient is non-pregnant;?
- Ensure that a mother in lactation is given information about discontining nursing;?
- Perform the radiological procedure following an optimized protocol and ensuring patient protection;?
- Calculate administered activity to a child according to the local rules;?
- Verify the administered radiopharmaceutical and its activity;?
- Perform regular quality control of activity meter and gamma camera;?
- Contribute to the preparation of specifications for new equipment;?
- Participate in optimization of imaging protocols;?
- Inform the nuclear medicine physician and radiation protection officer (RPO) in the case of an accident or incident.?
? What are my main responsibilities as a medical physicist in nuclear medicine?
Your responsibilities are to:
- Plan together?with the nuclear medicine physician and the radiation protection officer (RPO), the facilities for nuclear medicine practice;?
- Prepare?performance specifications for equipment with regard to radiation protection;?
- Participate?in the continuing review of the nuclear medicine practice's resources (including budget, equipment and staffing), operations, policies and procedures;?
- Carry?out acceptance testing and commissioning of equipment;?
- Design, implement?and supervise?QA procedures;?
- Supervise?equipment maintenance;?
- Be responsible for calibration of equipment and dosemeters;?
- Perform?patient dose assessment;?
- Participate?in optimization of imaging protocols;?
- Participate?in the investigation and evaluation of incidents and accidents;?
- Contribute?to the radiation protection training programme.?
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