Nuclear Medicine Technologist

Job Title

Duties

Functions or duties of this position include but are not limited to:

• Recognize potential radiation contamination of packages and environment by visual and mechanical methods. Take necessary actions to minimize radiation contamination, and radiation exposure to self, public and coworkers.
• Contact the Radio pharmacy and Radiation Safety Officer for clarification and guidance as needed.
• Perform daily laboratory surveys; wipe tests and bio-assays. Recognize evidence of contamination and implement containment and mitigation protocols.
• Calibrate and perform quality control on thyroid uptake system, gamma cameras, SPECT/CT and PET/CT systems, dose calibrators, well counter and other equipment and instruments.
• Adjust and maintain instruments, verify correct operation using established procedures and quality control standards.
• Identify deviations from specifications, and document corrective actions taken.
• Troubleshoot issues and implement basic corrections when possible.
• Initiate work orders for repairs and/or maintenance as needed.
• Complete phantom exercises from the National Nuclear Medicine Program Office, and other quality assurance duties.
• Review requests for appropriateness before performing exams. Use appropriateness criteria, the clinical history provided on the request, patient interview, patient chart review, or contact with the ordering provider as needed for clarification.
• Present discrepant or deficient indications to the Nuclear Medicine Supervisor or radiologist as appropriate.
• Ensure that the protocol is approved and signed by a radiologist prior to the initiation of an exam.
• Apply the concept of ALARA, keeping radiation exposure to patients and staff to as low as reasonably achievable.
• Receive patients and ensure proper identification.
• Provide patient education on what to expect during the exam and when to expect results. Continually assesses the condition and needs of patients to ensure patient safety, comfort, privacy, and dignity.
• Establish IV access as needed using needle sheath angio-catheter or butterfly.
• Prepare, assay, and administer radiopharmaceutical doses by injection, inhalation, or ingestion by protocol or as prescribed.
• Support administration of radiopharmaceuticals by radiologists for lymphoscintigraphy and other exams that require a provider to administer the material.
• Coordinate the administration of medications such as diuretics, morphine, CCK and others that are adjuncts to the nuclear medicine exam.
• Observe patient for adverse reactions to radiopharmaceuticals or other medications associated with the procedure and initiate appropriate actions.
• Independently operate advanced nuclear medicine equipment to acquire images and/or functional information for a diverse spectrum of diagnostic exams that assess multiple organ systems.
• Operate the CT scanners integrated into the gamma cameras for attenuation correction and multiplanar anatomic correlation per protocol and as guided by the interpreting physician.
• Apply knowledge of planar and 3-D imaging anatomy, normal and abnormal activity, and artifact reduction to optimize patient positioning, acquisition parameters and other facets of high image quality.
• Process primary acquisitions to produce diagnostic images and functional information. Assess completeness and diagnostic value of exams before releasing the patient-- review exams with a radiologist, and perform additional imaging as needed.
• Equipment employed includes gamma cameras with SPECT-CT, integrated multi-slice CT scanner, PET/CT Camera, and the thyroid uptake system as well as supplementary equipment such as the dose calibrator and well counter.
• Ensure completed exams are available on the workstation for physician interpretation with requisite processing and annotation, supporting worksheets and documents.
• Initiate policy orders for radiographs and labs as needed for correlation.
• Support nuclear medicine procedures with set-up of procedure tables and circulator assistance during procedures.
• Employ appropriate sterile technique and direct radiopharmaceutical containment measures.
• Perform a variety of administrative functions in VISTA such as exam registration, documentation, and case editing.
• Ensure exams and relevant documents are archived in PACS and Vista Imaging Display.
• Apply working knowledge of CPRS to review progress notes, labs, allergies, and other relevant clinical information. Make appropriate entries into CPRS as needed such as progress notes and policy orders.
• Apply safe patient-handling techniques using assistive devices such as lifts, hover mats and sliders when appropriate.

Work Schedule: Part-time/intermittent/Schedule TBD

Telework: Not Available

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: 60094-F

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized