![]() ![]() Health care decision-making processes require the consideration of all aspects of a problem. As an important member of the team, the radiographer plays a critical role in setting and maintaining high ethical and legal standards for health care. Taking professional responsibility for each patient, including the quality of procedures, privacy, confidentiality, and limits on radiation exposure, must be foremost in my daily activity as an imaging professional. Attending educational seminars makes me more knowledgeable, and consciously thinking about the radiation exposures selected improves my ability to produce high-quality radiographs at reasonably low exposures. As a radiographer, I have a moral and ethical obligation to understand the new equipment, use it properly, and limit the amount of radiation exposure during procedures. Because we focus on producing high-quality radiographs, the use of more radiation exposure than needed could easily become a routine. When computed radiography was introduced into our radiology department, we were not knowledgeable about this technology and how it would affect our exposure techniques. Radiographic imaging is a major contributor to patients’ radiation exposure, and the use of medical imaging for diagnosis and treatment continues to increase. Students and radiographers must be more diligent than ever in selecting radiation exposure techniques to maintain the “as low as reasonably achievable” (ALARA) principle. This is a level of expectation I wish not to disappoint.Īdvancements in radiographic equipment have created an environment in which it may seem that the technology can select and administer the radiation and that, as long as the images are of diagnostic quality, the amount of radiation exposure to patients is incidental. Because I bring earned credentials to my job, they believe I will treat them fairly, ethically, and within the standards of practice. Students and patients make assumptions about the ethical standards that guide my practice. ![]() The use of electronic transmission of confidential information requires me to be mindful of the profession’s code of ethics and my moral and legal obligation to protect each patient’s and student’s right to privacy. It is my responsibility to provide the same level of assurance to patients. As a patient myself, I view the confidentiality statement as a contract ensuring that my information is private and confidential. Just because I have access to patients’ medical records, that does not mean I have permission to read their private information. Today radiographers have access to more personal information that has the potential to do harm, and we must be cautious in how and when we communicate about our patients’ health and personal status. Issues of patient confidentiality have become a greater concern in my practice as a radiographer and educator because of changing methods of communication. The ethical and legal issues that face radiographers take on new dimensions as technologic advances are made. ![]() Fauber EdD, RT(R)(M), Radiography Program Director VCU Medical Center Richmond, Virginia ![]()
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