INSIGHTS SPONSORED BY:
DIRECTOR’S
CIRCLE
U
ltrasound is perhaps the most used imaging modality at health care facilities in the United States and its popularity continues to grow. ICE Magazine reached out to imaging leaders to find out more about ultrasound in this month’s Director’s Circle article. Leaders sharing their insights are:
• UC Health Vice President of Operations, Becky Allen • University of Texas Medical Branch Senior Imaging Manager-Ultrasound and CT, Julie Dueitt • UT Southwestern Imaging Systems and Services Technical Manager, Kim Pongsatianwong • University Hospitals of Cleveland Radiology Manager, Amy Rutledge. Q: WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES THAT SONOGRAPHERS FACE TODAY? Allen: The biggest challenges sonographers face today is the number of scans per sonographer that’s expected and the inpatient turnaround time from time ordered to time of final dictation within 24 hours. These challenges can lead to increased stress and burnout for our team members. Sonography is such a technologist dependent modality; we understand how important it is to provide flexible scheduling and work/life balance to keep the best of the best sonographers. We are fortunate to have many long-term sonographers. Dueitt: Although sonography can be a very rewarding career, there are significant challenges that sonographers face. In fact, most of the challenges that sonographers face can be linked to the greatest challenge of all which is bodily harm – both mentally and physically. The top three challenges would be on-call abuse, performance of 32
ICEMAGAZINE | MARCH 2024
unnecessary exams, and ergonomics issues from scanning position, pressure and repetitive motion resulting in musculoskeletal injury. In fact, by their third year working in ultrasound, 45% of sonographers have musculoskeletal injury symptoms. In addition, many sonographers take calls all night long and are still expected to work the next day. This lack of sleep or broken up sleep can create a mental fog which not only affects the sonographer but has the potential to affect the patient. Lastly, on a normal day at work sonographers perform unnecessary exams (exams ordered after another testing method has already answered the question) and portable exams putting more physical stress on their bodies. Pongsatianwong: One of the biggest challenges that sonographers face today is keeping up with rapidly advancing ultrasound technology and equipment. Manufacturers are designing innovative features and functionalities that are elevating the use of ultrasound in many exciting new ways to assist with diagnosing patients. It can be difficult to find the time to learn the latest equipment and techniques when there is a demanding workload with tight schedules. Meeting the demand for ultrasound services while maintaining accuracy and high image quality can be stressful in situations where there exists difficult patient body habitus and pathologies. However, making time to incorporate these new developments can help to streamline workflows and increase the throughput of patients. Rutledge: One of the most significant challenges that the sonography profession faces is the increasing number of sonographers needed to address the changing demographics of the patient population. We have an aging ADVANCING THE IMAGING PROFESSIONAL