Mobile x-ray in Intensive Care Unit Essay

Across the healthcare industry, the use of mobile x-ray technology has been in the rise due to its increased acceptance and demand for equipment that brings technologists out of fixed x-ray room has spiked. In the world, today technology has dramatically changed the nursing profession. One area in nursing practice that has seen tremendous development is the intensive care unit, with the introduction of mobile x-ray. Mobile x-ray comes indifferent units that have significantly played a critical role in addressing emergency medical conditions in various areas (Kelly, and Toomey, 2014). Mobile x-ray has been beneficial to mobile health service providers such as doctors, first aid providers, and nurses in efforts to address the emergency in the field. Mobile x-ray in Intensive Care Unit Essay.This digital x-ray was developed to help nurses and doctors during home care and nursing home as well as for medically oriented aid organizations, ships, and offshore platforms. This paper will examine the role of mobile x-ray and its impact in the healthcare industry and determine healthcare problems associated with its use.

The most significant factor that contributed to the introduction of mobile x-ray is due to increased demand in the healthcare industry for advanced bedside imaging. This has already transformed into digital from computed radiography. In the past healthcare industry was faced with the challenge of obtaining high-quality images for their patients more in intensive care unit, this has rapidly changed due to the introduction of mobile x-ray (Kelly, and Toomey, 2014. It has also reduced the time consumed in analysis images obtained from patients because they were not clear making it logistically simple. According to a recent study on the impact of mobile x-ray the closeness of acquiring images at the bedside from patients in intensive care unit is now leading to improvements in power managing and wireless competences of the mobile technology.Mobile x-ray in Intensive Care Unit Essay.

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER NOW

In critical care center communication between the patients, nurse, and doctors critical component that ensures there is the provision of high-quality care. Given that most patient in ICU is in critical condition it’s advisable for nurses and doctors to have a close relationship to avoid malpractices which may put the patient’s life in danger. Adequate communication also re3duces most errors that have been witnessed in the intensive care unit setting patients’ lives risk. It’s also advisable to engage the patient’s family members in all critical conditions before making any decision. This creates a close relationship that ensures that there is adequate provision of care required by the patients. Teamwork is another essential component in healthcare centers which brings all units together in the provision of health care. Every individual has critical care to play in health centers for a common goal.

Mobile imaging is used in most cases in the intensive care unit to provide medical examination to patients who are unable to go to the radiology room for examination. This results from some health problems such as being elderly, unconscious and having been involved in trauma or immunosuppressed. Introduction of mobile radiography has brought significant changes in the intensive care unit in the provision of high-quality services compared in the past where medical staffs had to struggle to obtain precise information.Mobile x-ray in Intensive Care Unit Essay.

Fig. 1.0 mobile x-ray unit

This radiology device is a whole structure to ensure the production of high-quality images for patients on bedsides. It has a wheeled cart that helps in transporting an x-ray generator, an x-ray tube, film cassette, collimators, and a flat-panel detector storage drawer. Another structure is the presence of battery which facilitates recharging when not in use. This makes it provide extensive use even in areas without electricity. It’s mostly used for chest radiograph due to its high-resolution power thus giving correct details of any chest problem.

Fig.2.0 mobile x-ray for chest radiograph examination.

Through the use of this device, doctors can examine the patient’s chest problem because it’s projected on the screen compared to the analog method. This ensures that the problem is easily identified and appropriate measures taken to curb its impact (World Health Organization, 2012). Mobile x-ray in Intensive Care Unit Essay.This radiology device has significantly transformed nursing care practices in intensive because of its simple to use thus providing high chances of determining chest problems. Its helps nurses to change care delivery to their patients. It also helps medical staffs to work confidently and provide much ease when handling this machine thus giving out clear images. Healthcare has seen dramatic changes because it has always been challenging to provide support in critical condition due to a lack of devices that could assist. Mobile x-ray radiograph ensures that patients can be examined at their bedsides without visiting radiology rooms.

Introduction of mobile x-ray radiographs in healthcare has dramatically impacted the provision of healthcare at critical conditions. It has reduced many problems that healthcare providers had to undergo because their work has diminished in running the radiology system. It also helps in saving time and energy in operating the machine thus boosting nurse levels of satisfaction in the healthcare for both patients, staffs, physicians and even managers. It has also led to gain of high standardization of the data obtain leading to consistency, improving the quality of health care provided and ensuring faster reading and analysis of the data collected from a patient. His device has also come with improved systems making it easy to use. Its touch screen enables healthcare providers only to make three clicks that complete the examination giving detailed information. Other advancements in this device are the presence of wireless cassettes and keyless entries.Mobile x-ray in Intensive Care Unit Essay.

Mobile x-ray has brought significant impact in infection control. This recent device gives nurses the opportunity to rectify any medical exposure to radiations while carrying out the examinations. The use of PPE (personal protective equipment) during the process of investigations crucial because it incorporates the use of lead which is vital in the reduction of radiation exposure. During the x-ray process, there are three main aspects that nurses must consider for effective healthcare provision to their patients. This includes time of exposure, distance, and shielding. Recent mobile x-ray devices have a long cord that ensures healthcare providers are at a safe distance from radiations. For the safety of the patients, it’s also advisable for the radiographers to first determine their patients before exposing them to ionization radiations. This has always been challenging more so in patients who are in a coma or unresponsive. Therefore this calls for adequate communication between nurses and doctors to ensure only the right patients are screened (Koyfman, et…al, 2016).

Another challenge with radiography is cross-infection between healthcare workers and their patients. To minimize issues of cross infections, it’s advisable to ensure that all devices are cleaned regularly and checked for any mechanical problem before the examination. According to the world health organization, the introduction of standard infection transmission control precautions is aimed to prevent cross-transmission of infections from recognized and unrecognized sources. This should be taken into consideration for patients, medical staffs, nurses, doctors, and hospital managers.

Fig. 3.0 mobile x-ray process

During the examination, the position can be changed to give different views of the chest. Posterior-Antero view is the most efficient method in the examination of the chest, but there are some challenges which significantly may affect this. The condition of the patient is one of a significant problem which determines the position of mobile x-ray examination. Mobile x-ray in Intensive Care Unit Essay.Posterior-Antero examination is carried out in an erect position on full inhalation at a distance of approximately 6 feet from the x-ray tube. However, it’s not widely used in the intensive care unit because most of the patients are unable to stand thus making anteroposterior the most applicable method of examination.

In the intensive care unit the most performed radiological tests are chest x-ray (CXRs), and for an extended period, it has been a challenge to facilitate this procedure. The emergence of mobile x-ray in healthcare centers has been a significant achievement. Nurses must join hands with doctors to promote this process and ensure that the patients are not affected by the whole procedure because most of them are under the life-supporting machines due to various health conditions. To ensure the capturing of high-quality data from the patients, healthcare providers must provide that the patient under examination lies well on the bed. This ensures that the beam rays from the x-ray radiograph only focuses on the depressed area and does not bring side effect to other areas (Ebenebe, et…al, 2019). A mobile chest x-ray is carried out in the “anteroposterior” (AP) projections always considered to be inferior even though it’s the only options in the intensive care unit because of the patient’s critical conditions. The most recommended method of mobile chest x-ray is the “posterior-Antero” (PA). The introduction of modern mobile x-ray in the intensive care unit has been of significant support.

Fig.4.0 posterior-Antero views an anteroposterior view of the chest during a mobile x-ray.

The above figure portrays different positions in which a patient is laid to obtain desired results for close examination and analysis of the problem identified.

There are numerous benefits in healthcare which have been brought by the introduction of mobile x-ray in examining chest problem. Posterior-Antero projection in medical care is deliberated to be the best method during examination because it reduces cardiac magnification and also reduces the risk of producing a lordotic image because there is minimal chance of the patient leaning backward.Mobile x-ray in Intensive Care Unit Essay. PA projection offers the best evaluation solution of the cardiothoracic ratio.

Radiological examinations for patients in the intensive care unit are usually performed through mobile x-ray device. However, they require high knowledge and competence for the safety precautions of nurses. In the medical industry, the safety of nurses is paramount to minimize the effects of ionization radiations which have adverse impacts on their lives. In the past decades, this has been a significant threat to their health, and the introduction of mobile x-ray is seen to be a significant step in reducing this problem. Nurse’s knowledge is crucial not only to the patients but also in use preventive measures to reduce the side impacts of ionization radiation. The severity of side impacts from radiations varies with the dose in which there is a threshold value. When people are exposed to radiation for a long time, there are higher chances of having damaged tissues, and this has adverse effects on their life. Therefore, suitable measures should be applied to reduce this problem.

Given that this has been a significant problem for many years technologists took measures to ensure the emission of ionization traditions in intensive care units is minimized. This was aimed to provide that patients and health care workers are free from the long term effects of radiations. Even though this has been achieved, there is a need for improved measures to ensure there is the complete elimination of radiations to the curbside impacts of radiations. Nurse’s knowledge is crucial in the application of these devices because they require to be handled with care to minimize side effects that may occur due to the incompetence of nurses.

To facilitate examination, there are procedures that medical providers must observe to ensure the high-quality image is obtained. In the intensive care unit after the patient under examination has been well identified, mostly by use of stickers due to their medical conditions, the radiographer must observe the position of the patient from the end of the bed space. Competence is critical in this process to produce a high-quality diagnostic image. Another essential procedure that must be followed is a position with quality when handling patients in an intensive care unit; they are always in critical condition that requires to be treated with care. Mobile x-ray in Intensive Care Unit Essay.Radiographer must ensure that the patient is rolled on sides to avoid back sores which may affect the patient considerably thus leading to deterioration of their health status (Bissett, and Van Haren, 2019). The mattress is then placed on a horizontal position to ensure that the patient is entirely straight. Lastly, the bed can be raised to bring the patients at an erect position that allows the patients to be moved forward to ensure that the cassette or the detector is placed behind him or her.

Then the ECG lead is removed from the chest of the patient; this reduces distractions that may hurt the results obtained. The ECG lead should be placed on the back of the patient rather than across the chest. It’s crucial to ensure that the x-ray tube beam has been well set is perpendicular to the detector (Moskowitz, 2011). It’s advisable to ensure that the x-ray tube is not observed from the foot of the bed because this may give out rotated imagine thus providing wrong information. Test of inhalation is then required followed by reposition. There is a problem of shallow breathing in intensive care patients especially when they are in a coma or pain. The last step is using timing and prep to ensure t5hat the patient is ready for examination.

Fig. 5.0 chest review after a mobile x-ray examination.

Although mobile x-ray has brought significant improvement in the healthcare provision more so in patients with critical health problems. High advancement in technology has led to the introduction of a mobile x-ray machine to curb many problems experienced in the provision of medical care more so in intensive care unit; this technology has also brought some challenges which need to be addressed to offer the best medical care. One major problem is moving around the medical ward carrying the machine because of minimal spaces in between the beds is a big challenge which must be addressed. However, most hospitals have responded to this by renovating their rooms to allow room for portable x-ray machines and provide a better experience to the patients (Digby, et…al, 2019).Mobile x-ray in Intensive Care Unit Essay. There must be an introduction of more portable devices that will provide secure provision of care. There are diverse types of cassettes does not fit all machines. Given in most cases mobile examinations are performed on adults, and there is more need for advancement because all people do not have the same lungs that can fit into all patients. Another challenge is brought by the fact that mobile x-ray machines move from room to room thus exposing the patient to the risk of cross infection. This had been a significant challenge for many years though it’s reducing significantly in the past years more measures should be employed to curb cross infection completely.

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER NOW

Introduction

The introduction of portable x-ray machine has been a significant step in healthcare centers more so in the critical care center. This has led to improved healthcare provision thus saving many lives that were lost due to inadequate services. It has reduced numerous problems that health workers had to undergo an examination of critically ill patients. Advancements in technology have played a critical role in the medical field through increased research for modern equipment to address increased health problems. Despite minimal challenges faced due to the emergence of this device, numerous achievements have been achieved on healthcare centers across the world.

References

Kelly, A. Toomey, R. (2014) Protocols and Guidelines for Mobile Chest Radiography in Irish Public Hospitals. Radiography. 5 (1)

Moskowitz, H. (2011) I.C.U Chest Radiology: Principles and Case Studies [online]. New Jersey: Wiley- Blackwell. [Accessed 3 December 2014]. Mobile x-ray in Intensive Care Unit Essay.