http://ce.rt-image.com/blog/AtlantaChildrens/index.cfm Children's Healthcare of Atlanta is a national leader in pediatric radiology, performing more than 225,000 tests a year. Children’s is proud to offer an expert staff skilled in a variety of radiology services, such as MRI, iMRI, CT, fluoroscopy, X-ray, ultrasound, and PET/CT. Children’s radiology staff includes radiologists, technologists, nurses, and child life specialists. Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, a not-for-profit organization, is committed to enhancing the lives of children through excellence in patient care, research and education. Managing more than half a million patient visits annually at three hospitals and 16 neighborhood locations, Children’s is one of the largest clinical care providers for children in the country. en-us Fri, 10 Sep 2010 19:03:34 -0400 Tue, 03 Aug 2010 10:13:00 -0400 BlogCFC http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss blogs@rt-image.com blogs@rt-image.com blogs@rt-image.com http://ce.rt-image.com/blog/AtlantaChildrens/index.cfm false http://ce.rt-image.com/blog/AtlantaChildrens/index.cfm/2010/8/3/The-Attribute-of-Attitude The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. To me, it is more important than facts, more important than the past, than money, than circumstances, than failures. It is more important than what people say, do or think. Attitude can and will make or break a home, church or company. The best thing about attitude is that you and I have a choice. We cannot change the past. We cannot change the ways others act. However, we can control our attitude and how we react. Life is 10 percent what happens to us and 90 percent how we react to it. Attitude is very important when dealing with internal and external customers. As radiology techs, we must do our best when caring for patients. A tech with good attitude will produce a satisfied customer. Attitude determines altitude. How high will you fly? Will you scratch in the barnyard of circumstances with the chickens, or will you soar high above your circumstances with the eagles? Hagi Mohammed, Radiology Team Lead, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston Quality Tue, 03 Aug 2010 10:13:00 -0400 http://ce.rt-image.com/blog/AtlantaChildrens/index.cfm/2010/8/3/The-Attribute-of-Attitude http://ce.rt-image.com/blog/AtlantaChildrens/index.cfm/2010/7/6/Neonates-in-MRI Are you monitoring temperatures for neonates having MRI scans? Neonates are especially vulnerable to heat loss and special care should be taken to monitor temperatures for these patients. At Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, we are currently working on a protocol to monitor and intervene when necessary as well as take additional steps to keep infants warm during a scan. Current recommendations include pre-scan temperatures, turning off the fan inside the scanner, warm packs, warm blankets and frequent temperature monitoring. The length of the scan is a factor and longer scans need careful monitoring and interventions. Neonates under general anesthesia or sedation are also at higher risk for hypothermia. Paying extra attention to these details will help patients maintain temperature during MRI scans. Nancy Dennehy, Assistant Manager Nursing Radiology-Sedation, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite Quality Tue, 06 Jul 2010 16:37:00 -0400 http://ce.rt-image.com/blog/AtlantaChildrens/index.cfm/2010/7/6/Neonates-in-MRI http://ce.rt-image.com/blog/AtlantaChildrens/index.cfm/2010/4/12/RFAs-Not-Just-for-Adults As I sat here reading the blog posts on this site, I noticed an article on the left side of the page titled "Radiofrequency Ablation Safe and Effective for Reducing Pain From Bone Metastases Working in Interventional Radiology." This spurred my interest of the article since this is a procedure that we perform at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. While reading the article I stopped to think about how beneficial this procedure is. The article mentions a study that was performed and the outcome of the procedures on the patients observed. It does not specify the ages of the patients, but in the pediatric hospital setting RFAs have been a blessing for children and their families. In regards to pediatrics, an RFA is a minimally invasive procedure, with quick results, and a quick recovery time. RFAs allow children to have the lesion that is causing them pain treated and allow them to return to an active life in less time than would be required if a surgery were to occur. When speaking to some of the children after the procedure, they have stated that right then they can feel the pain from the procedure but that there is already a lessening of the pain associated from the lesion. The parents have also commented about the changes that they see in the children post procedure. In dealing with pediatric patients, shorter times in both procedures and recovery is a boon to everyone involved. Raymond Woodall, RT(R) Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite Quality Mon, 12 Apr 2010 13:04:00 -0400 http://ce.rt-image.com/blog/AtlantaChildrens/index.cfm/2010/4/12/RFAs-Not-Just-for-Adults http://ce.rt-image.com/blog/AtlantaChildrens/index.cfm/2010/2/4/Z-Codes-Image-Quality-Initiative-in-Radiology The importance of image quality is recognized at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta by radiology leadership. A high standard of image quality is required to assure the radiologist accurate reading of images. This assists the attending physician in making a diagnosis and safety treat the patient. The Children's quality team has developed a system called Z-coding where the radiologist will attach a letter code to their dictation. Some examples of the factors coded are positioning, collimation, shielding, rotation, motion, unacceptable and excellent. This Z-coding system enables us to maintain on-going education for technologists that may need assistance in those areas. In addition, we are able to monitor trends that would indicate areas for improvement. - Susan Freeman RT(R) Education Analyst Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Egelston Quality Thu, 04 Feb 2010 09:50:00 -0400 http://ce.rt-image.com/blog/AtlantaChildrens/index.cfm/2010/2/4/Z-Codes-Image-Quality-Initiative-in-Radiology http://ce.rt-image.com/blog/AtlantaChildrens/index.cfm/2010/2/1/Protecting-Pediatric-Patients-During-CT-Scanning As Team Leader for the CT Department at a large pediatric hospital, I know the importance of dose reduction and shielding when scanning patients. Children are not "little adults" and can not be treated as such. Because their cells regenerate at a much faster rate than adult cells, it's very important that we protect them as much as possible. The two best ways to protect pediatric patients in CT are shielding and dose reduction. We use two types of shielding. First, to shield an area outside of the scan field, we use lead shielding. Secondly, to further shield our patients, we use bismuth shields. Bismuth shields can be used within the scan field without obscuring the image. There are various bismuth shields; eye, thyroid and on female patients, breast shields to name a few. Bismuth shields on average reduce radiation by approximately 25 percent. Dose reduction is the other way to reduce the amount of radiation a child receives. We are constantly reviewing our protocols to see where we can make adjustments that will reduce the amount of radiation without affecting image quality. Our scanners and our scanning protocols are certified and approved by the American College of Radiology (ACR). - Bonnie Johnson RT(R)(CT) Quality Mon, 01 Feb 2010 12:39:00 -0400 http://ce.rt-image.com/blog/AtlantaChildrens/index.cfm/2010/2/1/Protecting-Pediatric-Patients-During-CT-Scanning