Chapter 1 Foundations for Sonography Student PDF

Chapter 1 Foundations for the Sonography Student 1 Chapter Objectives Explore Briefly explore vital concepts related to student success in sonography. Offer Offer insight into classroom and clinical survival ski...

Chapter 1 Foundations for the Sonography Student 1 Chapter Objectives Explore Briefly explore vital concepts related to student success in sonography. Offer Offer insight into classroom and clinical survival skills for sonography students. Understand Understand workflow in the hospital setting. Appreciate the different imaging modalities that a sonography student will Appreciate encounter while in the hospital or office setting. Recognize how vital critical thinking skills are in the sonography profession. Recognize 2 Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer All Rights Reserved  The sonographer is a critical part of the healthcare team. Where does the student fit in? perform at varying levels of competency, observing first then conducting portions to complete examinations Introduction Prepare you by covering the following: Managing stress Financial considerations Maintaining emotional and physical health 3 Time management and goals Classroom and clinical survival skills The role of the sonographer Workflow and layout of an imaging department Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer All Rights Reserved Stress: Inevitable But Manageable Stress is inevitable; it is a normal reaction to challenging situations. Stressors cause anxiety, a state of worry or fear. Stressors are events or other challenges In the fight-or-flight response, hormones cause increased to time, energy, or resources. heart rate, shallow and rapid breathing, sweaty palms, and an energy surge. Stress can be an immediate response or can build up over time. Anxiety has cognitive, physical, and behavioral components. Learn to recognize causes of stress and anxiety to be prepared and practice self-care through intervention techniques. 4 Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer All Rights Reserved Dealing with Stress and Anxiety 5 Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer All Rights Reserved Financial Preparedness Annual salaries vary per specialty. In 2012, the median income was reported to be $78,520. The career is in demand. You must be financially prepared for your education. Develop a budget. Consider working during school. Do not overextend yourself; physical exhaustion can lead to a lack of focus. Consider seeking financial assistance. Employers may offer support. State and federal programs offer low-interest loans, gifts, grants, and scholarships. Consult your tax advisor about incentives for students. 6 Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer All Rights Reserved Money Saving Tips 7 Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer All Rights Reserved  Tell your loved ones about the demands on your time. Emotional Consider involving your family and friends in your studies. Tell them about assignments. Stability Seek their help in studying for tests and practicing patient positioning and procedures. and Seek engagement with other students, sonographers, and Support faculty members. Your program may offer student mentoring. 8 Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer All Rights Reserved  Before beginning sonography programs, students often must undergo a physical examination including: Immunization Laboratory tests Drug screening Physical Well- A positive result can lead to dismissal from your program or job. Being Tips for maintaining your physical well-being include: Regular exercise A well-balanced diet 9 Adequate sleep Taking breaks from studying to engage in physical activity Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer All Rights Reserved  Time management is crucial, but finding a balance in your life may be challenging. Work to develop your time management skills. Time Management 10 Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer All Rights Reserved Establishing Educational Goals 11 Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer All Rights Reserved  Successful students have numerous skills in common, including: Sitting near the front of the classroom Having healthy snacks before lectures Taking good notes Classroom Asking questions to seek clarity Efficiently preparing for tests Survival Skills It is easy to become overwhelmed when encountering a large amount of complicated information. Develop classroom survival skills in the following areas: 12 Pertinent coursework Preparing for tests Maintaining motivation in the classroom Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer All Rights Reserved  Pertinent coursework may include: Courses relevant to your studies, including anatomy and physiology Public speaking, writing, and basic physics Medical terminology Spanish medical communication Pertinent Requirements for programs vary. Coursework Pursuing a CNA certification/or phlebotomy can provide valuable knowledge and experience. 13 Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer All Rights Reserved  Find your own personal preparation style. Aim to learn the information rather than simply memorizing it. Genuine understanding of concepts directly impacts Preparing for clinical practice and patient care. Tests Seeking support for test anxiety can significantly increase your scores. Brain dumping should be a last resort. It is prohibited on national certification exams. Your goal should be to retain and comprehend 14 course content. Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer All Rights Reserved  Brain dumping It is prohibited on national certification exams. Preparing for Your goal should be to retain and comprehend course Tests content. Continually review information throughout your program. 15 Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer All Rights Reserved  It is easy to become overloaded with the amount of work in a sonography program. Approach one exam at a time. Looking too far ahead can cause anxiety. Maintaining Put full effort into focused, dedicated study time for each exam as it comes up. Motivation in Reward your efforts when you do well on a test or examination. the Avoid feeling depressed over test scores. Strive to do better on the next one. Classroom Make notes of where you struggled. Ask your instructors for guidance. 16 Use school breaks to relax your mind with enjoyable activities. Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer All Rights Reserved  Your success in the clinical setting depends on the following: The role of the sonographer Clinical Utilizing the scan lab Survival Skills Maintaining professionalism Maintaining your work ethic Observe how sonographers interact with patients, the interpreting physician, and others on the healthcare team. 17 Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer All Rights Reserved  A sonographer is a highly skilled medical professional who uses special equipment that emits ultrasound to create The diagnostic images of the human body. Sonographer: A physician interprets the created images. A Brief Overview 18 Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer All Rights Reserved  Before an examination, the sonographer obtains a clinical history. The After the examination, the sonographer prepares a Sonographer: A sonographer report. This gives: Brief Overview Basic descriptive information of the study (cont.) Sonographers are not be diagnosticians. If sonographers provide diagnostic information to patients, 19 they may be held legally liable. Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer All Rights Reserved Professionalism in the Clinical Setting How you perform in clinical settings is just as or more important than how you perform in the classroom. You are ultimately defined by your clinical competence and skillful patient care. Medical ethics go hand-in-hand with professionalism. You must recognize the importance of the Hippocratic Oath. 20 Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer All Rights Reserved  HIPAA (1996) included provisions requiring safeguarding patient information. This means there are strict rules for maintaining patient confidentiality. Do not share diagnostic information with Professionalism people not directly involved in the patient’s care. in the Clinical Never speak about a patient’s exam or medical information anywhere you can be Setting (cont.) overheard by bystanders. Strive to maintain patient privacy. 21 Keep your patients covered, especially when the examination is not in process. Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer All Rights Reserved Work Ethic in the Clinical Setting Maintain professional conduct. Every clinical rotation is a job interview. Assist sonographers with their daily responsibilities. 22 Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer All Rights Reserved  Be someone on whom the team can always rely. Be accountable: Uphold your obligations and Work Ethic in admit when you have made a mistake. Sonographers are responsible for patients’ the Clinical lives—mistakes must be remedied as quickly Setting as possible. Honesty is ALWAYS the best policy. (cont.) Patient service should guide your actions. Maintain a positive attitude. 23 Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer All Rights Reserved  You may be required to visit numerous healthcare facilities. Clinical It is your responsibility to learn the unique policies and procedures of each institution Orientation before interacting with patients. and Clinical orientation tasks include: Obtaining a map of the department Locating emergency crash carts Information Making copies of sonographic protocols Familiarizing yourself with ultrasound Gathering machines Locating supplies Locating material safety data sheets and manuals Obtaining a list of emergency codes 24 Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer All Rights Reserved Understanding Workflow and the Imaging Department Learn where you fit in by viewing the entire process of how a patient moves through the organization. Licensed physicians provide an order for sonographic examination. These include the reason for the examination. Imaging departments vary, but most center on the interpreting physician. Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer All Rights Reserved 25  This is the oldest of the diagnostic modalities in the imaging department. Radiographers are trained medical professionals who utilize x-ray or ionizing radiation to obtain images of the body. Radiographers may also assist during fluoroscopy, pyelography, and orthography. Radiography Most departments now use digital radiography to store and view images on a computer. Computed Tomography This also uses x-ray to obtain images. CT provides high-resolution sectional viewing of the body in multiple planes. It is often used in trauma, during invasive procedures, and routine outpatient procedures. You should work to establish an understanding of CT, as your procedures may be correlated with CT studies. 26 Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer All Rights Reserved  Nuclear medicine utilizes radioactive material for the diagnosis and treatment of various diseases or to differentiate normal and abnormal structures in the body. Patients inhale, ingest, or are injected with a radiopharmaceutical. These are capable of concentrating on a specific organ or system. Nuclear Nuclear medicine technologists operate a gamma camera to detect the emitted radiation, thus creating an Medicine image. Mammography Technology Mammographers use x-rays to obtain an image of the breast. It is recommended that all women 40+ have an annual screening mammogram. You should familiarize yourself with mammographic views of the breast in order to understand the location of breast pathology and appearance of disease. 27 Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer All Rights Reserved  This uses a powerful magnetic field, radio waves, and a devote computer system to create sectional images of the human body. MRI provides excellent resolution of internal structures and is used to evaluate disease all over the body. Magnetic Patients may be injected with a contrast agent. Resonance Cardiovascular Interventional Technology and Vascular Interventional Technology Heart catheterization is performed with the assistance of a Imaging cardiovascular interventional technologist. X-ray dye is used to image the vessels of the heart for signs of occlusion. Vascular interventional radiographers assist radiologists in stent placement for organs like the liver. 28 Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer All Rights Reserved Appreciating Critical Thinking Acquiring and utilizing critical thinking skills are significant components of performing adequate patient care. These skills include resourceful actions, judgments, and decisions based on the combination of professional knowledge, experience, integrity, and ethical standards. Basically, you use the best thinking of which you are capable in any set of circumstances. In sonography, this involves applying a code of ethics to the decision-making process. You must be able to correlate clinical history with sonographic findings to guide the examination. Obtaining reliable information is the most significant component of critical thinking and decision making. Be aware of the difference between making inferences and making assumptions. 29 Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer All Rights Reserved  There is a clear, positive correlation between the The more experience you gain, the Student amount of clinical higher the probability that your experience one has and interpretations will be correct. diagnostic accuracy. Application Your educational experience will help you Observe seasoned sonographers and evaluate the way they interact with of Critical gain critical thinking skills. patients, other healthcare workers, and interpreting physicians. Thinking Keep a clinical journal to keep notes on institutional information Keeping such a journal can also be and professional therapeutic. reflection. 30 Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer All Rights Reserved