Radiology nurses provide care to patients during diagnostic procedures, administering medication, assisting with examinations, and monitoring vital signs. They require a nursing degree and often hold advanced degrees, as well as certification in radiology nursing. They also provide emotional support to patients and their families during treatment.
Radiology nurses provide care to patients in the radiology department of a hospital or other medical setting. While following the instructions given by the radiologist, the radiology nurse provides medications, assists with the examination, helps develop a patient care plan, collects data, keeps records, checks intravenous fluids (IVs), assists in sedating patients, and monitors patients’ vital signs. Sometimes radiology nurses may also be involved in educating patients’ families or they may educate their healthcare colleagues about nursing policy or national standards of nursing care.
The radiology nurse usually works with medical equipment used to make diagnoses. For example, a radiology nurse is typically trained to help provide nursing care in the following specialties: ultrasound, nuclear medicine, angiography, ultrasonography, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and fluoroscopy. As part of the diagnostic process, radiology nurses need to be able to analyze and make quick yet accurate decisions.
Radiology nurses can start with an associate degree in nursing; however, many who want to be a radiology nurse look to a bachelor’s degree in nursing as a starting point. In addition, the nurse must pass the Registered Nurse in National Board Licensing Examination (NCLEX-RN). After working for several years, the registered nurse also typically obtains certification in radiology nursing. For example, it is possible to become a Certified Radiologic Nurse (CRN) through the Association for Radiologic and Imaging Nursing (ARIN) after passing the exam.
It is not uncommon for radiology nurses to hold an advanced degree. For example, advanced practice radiology nurses often have a Master of Nursing (MSN) degree to become more familiar with radiology nursing to better serve their patients. Additionally, some radiology nurses even go on to earn a doctorate in nursing so that they can work not only with patients but also as faculty in a university setting.
It is important to note that the radiology nurse does more than care for a physician. The radiology nurse provides an emotional support role to the patient and family while the patient is undergoing treatment. This can be challenging; often the family has many questions during the patient’s treatment. Radiology nurses often alleviate patients’ treatment fears and help the family understand the treatments the patient is receiving. Thus, being a radiology nurse is a challenging job as it requires medical knowledge but also requires excellent social skills.
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