Radiology Nurses
Radiology Nurses
About the department
The Radiology Department provides a wide range of services including various scans such as CT, MRI, U/S and procedures ranging from minor ones such as biopsies, aspirations, drain insertions to major ones like angioplasty, and embolisations. There is a 5 bedded area which allows for procedures that require recovery, to be performed as day cases. The state of the art technology and equipment provides development of leading edge services, in particular the interventional radiology services.
The ethos and culture of the radiology department centres around a multi-disciplinary approach and colleagues are valued, respected and encouraged to participate in all aspects of service development and patient care. There are opportunities to expand knowledge and skills to provide the most effective and efficient care.
About the role
The role entails working closely with the interventional radiology team and managing their patients’ pre, intra and post procedure. Some of the extended skills learnt are cannulation, venepuncture, U/S cannulation, conscious sedation PICC insertion, which are also used in other areas of radiology.
The radiology nurse will also be required to help develop the skills of a recovery nurse, scrub nurse, assessment clinic nurse and runner. They will work across site in various hospitals within the Trust on a rotational basis.
Opportunities to be link nurses for other supporting services is also part of the role and these range from pain management, nutrition, infection control, hand hygiene, blood transfusion to name a few.
This is an exciting opportunity for a new direction in your career, to develop new skills, to get involved in quality improvement, collaborate as part of a multidisciplinary team (MDT) and work with state-of-the-art technology and equipment.
Career routes
Ideally we would like you to have 1 year post registration experience in an acute setting. You will be required to complete an orientation period which will include learning the various roles of the radiology nurse and ensuring you are competent before being allocated to those tasks.
Opportunities to do the Radiology Interventional Course will be given after one year in the department.
Christy Lopez
Radiology Staff Nurse (Band 5)
My day to day role includes managing the interventional patients from patient admission to discharge. This includes preparing them for procedures (cannulating, observations, completing proforma, BM and INR monitoring), assisting the clinician with the procedure (scrub nurse, sedation nurse, circulating nurse) and recovery (liaising with transport, bed managers, nutrition nurse, pain team, community and other specialities.)
I am able to provide holistic care to my patients and their relatives and because we do both diagnostic and treatment procedures, I can often see the benefits of the care provided. I value the role of patient advocate as it facilitates a rich patient experience.
Working in a collaborative MDT with everyone communicating well, facilitates the great working environment which my department can boast. The culture within radiology is very caring and respectful and I could not imagine working anywhere else.
