ABSTRACT
Role extension in any occupation can affect both psychosocial and biomechanical stress levels and thus; have some consequences on efficiency in service delivery. The study was aimed to determine the impact of role extension of medical radiographers into sonography. 50 self-administered questionnaires were distributed to radiographers and to sonographers (radiographers with sonography responsibility). The questionnaires included questions seeking information on the demographic profile of the radiographer and sonographer; anatomical regions of biomechanical symptoms/stress and visual analogue scale (VAS); which rated job satisfaction and anxiety levels. 96of the questionnaires were returned and analyzed statistically using SPSS 11.0 software with P 0.05 indicating level of significance. Sonographers had more prevalence of biomechanical stress symptoms than the radiographers. Job satisfaction for sonographers (58.75) was lower than that for radiographers (64.29). Anxiety level was higher among sonographers even though this was not statistically significant. Sonography responsibility on radiographers did not have any significant effect on psychosocial stress. A balance in the extended role could aid efficiency in service delivery while improving the social strength of the individual
Subject(s)
Personal Satisfaction , Radiography , Stress, Physiological , UltrasonographyABSTRACT
The paper reports a cross-sectional study to determine the prevalence and type of symptoms; causal agents and awareness of latex glove reactions amongst four professional groups. The study was done at diagnostic imaging departments within ten major hospitals in Southeastern Nigeria. Radiologists/resident radiologists; radiographers; radiology nurses and darkroom technicians who were occupationally exposed to latex gloves were investigated between June and September 2006 to determine the level of latex hypersensitivity. The results show that prevalence is similar to that demonstrated elsewhere with 12.4of individuals expressing latex associated symptoms. Symptoms included itching and redness of hands; dry cracked skin; soreness of eyes; and upper respiratory tract complaints. There are strong relationships between number of gloves used per day; duration of glove use and expression of symptoms. About 62.8(n=76) of the respondents had previous knowledge of hypersensitivity reaction to latex gloves prior to this investigation. The paper concludes that latex hypersensitivity is a real problem amongst diagnostic imaging healthcare personnel in our locality. This preliminary work; therefore; provides the basis of a much larger controlled study in the future