Introduction to Radiography and Patient Care

Class

An overview of the historical development of radiography, basic introduction to radiologic science, basic radiation protection, an introduction to medical terminology, ethical and legal issues for health care professionals, and an orientation to the program and to the health care system. Patient assessment, infection control procedures, emergency and safety procedures, communication and patient interaction skills, and basic pharmacology are also included.

Course Learning Objectives

Define basic medical terms and ethical and legal standards; demonstrate basic radiographic protection and general safety in patient care practices; demonstrate proper assessment of patient condition; identify emergency situations; identify basic elements of radiographic imaging and identify pharmaceuticals and their applications.

At the completion of this course the student will be able to demonstrate cognitive and/or psychomotor proficiency in the following:d

A.  Understanding of the discovery of x-rays and the profession of Radiologic Technology

 (I a, b, d, e; II e; 3c)

B.  Basic radiation protection to self and public

 (I a, b, d, e; II b, c, d, e, f; III a, c, d, e; 1 c)

C.  Appropriate and accurate use of radiologic and medical terminology

(I a, b, d, e; II e; d, 3b, c)

D.  Critical thinking skills in ethical and legal issues

(I a, b, d, e; II a, b, c, d, e, f; III a, c, e; 2 a, b, 3 a, c; 4 a)

E.  Patient safety and assessment in the exam room.

(I a, b, d, e; II a, b, c, d, e, f; III a, c, 1 c; 2 a, f; 3 a, b, c; 4 a; 5 a, b,)

F.  Standard precautions.

(I a, b, d, e; II b, c, e, ; III a; 1 a, c; 2 c;  3 a; 4 a,)

G.  Concepts of diversity and patient interaction in the exam room.

(I a, b, d, e; II b e; III b, e; III b, c, e; 2a,f ;4a)

H.  Emergent medical situations and appropriate action in the imaging department.

(I a, b, d, e; II b, c; III a, e; 1 a, c; 2 a, c, f; 3 a, c; 4 a; 5 a, b)

Performance Objectives

A.  Discovery of x-rays and the profession of Radiologic Technology.

              1.  Identify the persons credited with and equipment used in the discovery

                 of  x-rays.

              2.  Identify/name chronological information regarding development of medical radiography.

              3.  Identify current and past professional organizations that regulate and  standardize the profession.

B.  Basic radiation protection to self and public.

              1.  Identify 3 basic factors that reduce radiation exposure in the exam room.

              2.  Identify and demonstrate methods of patient shielding.

              3.  Define ALARA.

                           4.  Describe and identify safety hazards for MRI personnel and patients

C.  Appropriate and accurate use of radiologic and medical terminology.

              1.  Identify meaning of medical prefixes/suffixes.

              2.  Apply medical terminology in written context.

D.  Critical thinking skills in ethical and legal issues in Radiologic Technology.

              1.  Define diversity and harassment in the workplace and the legal issues with them.

              2.  Identify 12 patient rights.

              3.  Define legal terms such as beneficence, non-maleficence, res ipsa loquitor, respondeat superior, assault, battery, etc.

              4.  Identify the ethical/legal issues concerning patient autonomy and  informed consent.

              5.  Demonstrate critical thinking skills regarding truthfulness and  confidentiality by discussing patient scenarios.

              6.  Demonstrate critical thinking skills regarding advanced directives,

                death and dying during discussion and patient scenarios. .

              7.  Differentiate patient age-related factors as it applies to radiology.

              8. Discuss and describe understanding orders, requests, and reports.

E.  Patient safety and assessment in the exam room.

              1.  Perform vital signs

              2.  Demonstrate/ identify correct usage of patient transport/transfer techniques

3.  Prepare sterile fields and apply sterile gloves

4.  Rehearse injection preparation

5.  Demonstrate/ identify correct handling of foley catheters.

              6.  Demonstrate/ identify correct handling of IV lines/pumps and O2 equipment.

              7.  Identify fall risks factors.

              8.  Demonstrate/ identify patient control on and off of the x-ray table or

                 upright bucky.

              9.  Demonstrate/ identify correct usage of patient transport techniques.

10. Demonstrate the proper use of mobile radiology.

F.  Standard  precautions.

              1.  Identify 5 elements needed to transmit disease.

              2.  Demonstrate/ identify proper hand-washing and standard precautions.

              3.  Identify proper medical waste disposal.

              4.  Identify the differences between airborne, contact, droplet, strict and  reverse isolation.

              5.  Identify the various PPE’s and demonstrate proper usage.

G.  Concepts of diversity and patient interaction in the exam room.

              1.  Identify the differences in the patients we care for.

              2.  Identify/analyze different methods/styles of communication.

H.  Describe emergent medical situations and appropriate action in the imaging department.

 1.  Explain the radiographer’s role in an emergency situation; such as    anaphylactic shock, cardiac arrest, and respiratory failure.

  2.  Explain the radiographer’s role in contrast reactions, syncope, and  seizures.

3.  List and describe 3 categories of pain and its harmful effects.

I. Medical Terminology

              1.  Apply the word-building process.

              2.  Interpret medical abbreviations and symbols.

              3.  Critique orders, requests and diagnostic reports.

              4.  Define medical imaging and radiation oncology terms.

              5.  Translate medical terms, abbreviations and symbols into common language from a medical report.

6. Body systems

              J. Radiographic Imaging

   1. Discuss primary, scatter, and remnant radiation.

    2. Describe various image receptor systems.

3. Discuss image quality of image receptor exposure/density, contrast, recorded detail and distortion.

4. Explain the basics of image production.

5. Discuss latent image formation for film-screen, photostimulable phosphor systems, and indirect and direct capture digital radiography.

              K. Pharmacology and Contrast Agents

  1. Describe drug nomenclature and methods of drug classification.

 2. Identify the six rights of drug safety and routes of drug administration.

3. Describe pharmacology principles and drug categories of relevance.

Patient Care Lab

Students will be divided into 3 groups of 8 students per group. Students are required to review instructional competency handout sheets, textbook CD videos and instructional videos loaded on the RADR 1409 Moodle classroom prior to lab.  Lab class will involve demonstration of required ARRT competencies by instructors.  Practice time is allocated for students to simulate competencies.  Then students will be required to perform competencies for a grade.  This will be done in the classroom and x-ray lab rooms.  Students will also be required to complete chapter review questions.

Equipment / Supplies: Foley catheter and bag, IV pump, O2 tanks and cannula,                                               wheelchair, stretcher, exam gloves, masks, isolation gowns, caps, booties, stretcher, wheelchair, thermometers, needles, vials, vital signs equipment,  videos and handouts.

Evaluation Standards

Overall Patient Care Course Grading

Sectional Exams: 35%

              Final Exam: 30%

              Lab: 25%

              Chapter Assignments: 5%

              Medical Terminology Quizzes: 5%

Lecture Grading:

Cognitive evaluation will be conducted by written exam.  The sectional exam will consist of a variety of questions. All exams will be taken through Canvas. The final will cover all sections at the end of the semester.  Only one make-up exam will be allowed during the semester and must be taken immediately upon return to class in the testing center and will have a 10% reduction in the grade. Each chapter assignment is due the following class after the prior sectional exam.

Medical terminology quizzes are available on the RADR 1409 Canvas classroom and will count for 5% of the course grade. A separate Medical Terminology agenda is distributed with the calendar schedule for each sections. There will be no make-up quizzes offered.

Lab Grading    

Evaluation Criteria will consist of laboratory competencies and will count for 25% of the course grade. These competencies must be achieved with a minimum score of 90% before the student will be allowed into the ‘patient-contact’ areas of the clinical site.

* If the minimum grade is not obtained, the student will be required to remediate the entire competency skill until a passing grade is achieved. The remediation grade recorded will not exceed 78 points. Repeat competencies will be done at the end of the lab session (time permitting).

An ethics paper will be due for the ethics lab. This paper will be graded with an assignment grade (5%) towards the final grade. The paper must be APA style, 3 pages with 1 cover page, 1 page of research over an ethics violation pertaining to the radiology field and a reference page. One reference must be from the class textbook. Please reference this website for proper APA style: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/general_format.html\

****Students must achieve a minimum passing grade of 78 in BOTH the lab and didactic areas of the class in order to receive an overall passing grade.****

Grading Scale:   91 – 100        A

                                83– 90          B

                                78 – 82         C

                                77-  74        D

                                Below 73     F

Expected classroom etiquette:

It is the student’s responsibility to drop a class.  All drops must be processed by an Academic Advisor appropriate to students major.

The instructor reserves the right to make modifications in content and schedules as necessary to promote the best education possible within prevailing conditions affecting this course.

Cell phones are prohibited in class.  If a student’s cell phone goes off in class the student will be required to silence or turn the phone off unanswered, and 10 points will be deducted from the students next test score.  If a cell phone goes off during a test, 15 points will be deducted from the test score.  Subsequent events will result in the doubling of this penalty each time.  A student answering a phone during class will be required to leave class and meet with the instructor prior to attending class again.  A student answering a phone during a test will receive a 0 grade on the test.

During class it may be required for a classmate or instructor to touch one’s body in order to demonstrate a particular procedure or position. (This profession is about patient safety and care.  In order to properly care for a patient, you will need to touch them whether it is helping them on the table or when you are actually performing a radiographic exam.)

Absences

Students are allowed 4 absences during the semester.  Each absence beyond 4 will result in a 10% reduction of final grade for each additional absence.  Students 1 minute past start of class will be given a tardy.  Fifteen minutes or more tardy will be given an absence.  Three tardies will result in an absence. 

Disabilities

ADA Statement:

Any student with a documented disability (e.g. learning, psychiatric, vision, hearing, etc.) may contact the Office on the Weatherford College Weatherford Campus to request reasonable accommodations. Phone: 817-598-6350 Office Location: Office Number 118 in the Student Services Building, upper floor. Physical Address: Weatherford College 225 College Park Drive Weatherford, TX.

Academic Integrity
Academic Integrity is fundamental to the educational mission of Weatherford College, and the College expects its students to maintain high standards of personal and scholarly conduct. Academic dishonesty of any kind will not be tolerated. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating on an examination or other academic work, plagiarism, collusion, and the abuse of resource materials including unauthorized use of Generative AI. Departments may adopt discipline specific guidelines on Generative AI usage approved by the instructional dean. Any student who is demonstrated to have engaged in any of these activities will be subject to immediate disciplinary action in accordance with institutional procedures.
Hope Statement
Any student who faces challenges securing basic resources such as food, clothing, or housing and believes this may affect their performance in their course of study is urged to contact the Director of Student Resources, Dr. Deborah Cregger, for support at (817) 598-6444. Her office is on the first floor of Student Services. If the student prefers, they may contact their instructor, who can reach out on their behalf. Weatherford College also provides the Coyote Pantry. The Pantry maintains boxed and canned foods for students in need. The location of the Coyote Pantry is two blocks west of the Weatherford campus at the Baptist Student Ministry (118 E. Park Ave., Weatherford). Pantry hours are Mon-Thurs. 8:30 am-4:30 pm and Fri. 8.30 am-12:00 pm (817-599-6586).
SCANS

A THREE-PART FOUNDATION

I.  Basic Skills: Reads, writes, performs arithmetic and mathematical operations, listens and speaks

A. Reading — locates, understands, and interprets written information in prose and in documents such as manuals, graphs, and schedules

B. Writing — communicates thoughts, ideas, information, and messages in writing; and creates documents such as letters, directions, manuals, reports, graphs, and flow charts

C. Arithmetic/Mathematics — performs basic computations and approaches practical problems by choosing appropriately from a variety of mathematical techniques

D. Listening — receives, attends to, interprets, and responds to verbal messages and other cues

E. Speaking — organizes ideas and communicates orally

II.  Thinking Skills: Thinks creatively, makes decisions, solves problems, visualizes, knows   how to learn and reasons

A. Creative Thinking — generates new ideas

B. Decision Making — specifies goals and constraints, generates alternatives, considers risks, and evaluates and chooses best alternative

C. Problem Solving — recognizes problems and devises and implements plan of action

D. Seeing Things in the Mind’s Eye — organizes, and processes symbols, pictures, graphs, objects and other information

E. Knowing How to Learn — uses efficient learning techniques to acquire and apply new knowledge and skills

F. Reasoning — discovers a rule or principle underlying the relationship between two or more objects and applies it when solving a problem

III.  Personal Qualities: Displays responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, self-management, and  integrity and honesty

A. Responsibility — exerts a high level of effort and perseveres towards goal attainment

B. Self-Esteem — believes in own self-worth and maintains a positive view of self

C. Sociability — demonstrates understanding, friendliness, adaptability, empathy, and politeness in group settings

D. Self-Management — assesses self accurately, sets personal goals, monitors progress, and exhibits self-control

E. Integrity/Honesty — chooses ethical courses of action

FIVE COMPETENCIES

1.  Resources: Identifies, organizes, plans, and allocates resources

A. Time & Selects goal-relevant activities, ranks them, allocates time, and prepares and follows  schedules

B. Money & Uses or prepares budgets, makes forecasts, keeps records, and makes adjustments to meet objectives

C. Material and Facilities & Acquires, stores, allocates, and uses materials or space efficiently

D. Human Resources & Assesses skills and distributes work accordingly, evaluates performance and provides feedback

2.  Interpersonal: Works with others

A. Participates as a Member of a Team & contributes to group effort

B. Teaches Others New Skills

C. Serves Clients/Customers & works to satisfy customers’ expectations

D. Exercises Leadership & communicates ideas to justify position, persuades and convinces others, responsibly challenges existing procedures and policies

E. Negotiates & works toward agreements involving exchange of resources, resolves divergent  interests

F. Works with Diversity & works well with men and women from diverse backgrounds

3.  Information: Acquires and uses information

A. Acquires and Evaluates Information

B. Organizes and Maintains Information

C. Interprets and Communicates Information

D. Uses Computers to Process Information

4.  Systems: Understands complex inter-relationships

A. Understands Systems & knows how social, organizational, and technological systems work and operates effectively with them

B. Monitors and Corrects Performance & distinguishes trends, predicts impacts on system operations, diagnoses deviations in systems’ performance and corrects malfunctions

C. Improves or Designs Systems & suggests modifications to existing systems and develops new or alternative systems to improve performance

5.  Technology: Works with a variety of technologies

A. Selects Technology & chooses procedures, tools or equipment including computers and related technologies

B. Applies Technology to Task & Understands overall intent and proper procedures for setup and operation of equipment

C. Maintains and Troubleshoots Equipment & Prevents, identifies, or solves problems with equipment, including computers and other technologies.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS POLICY

“A student shall retain all rights to work created as part of instruction or using College District technology resources.”