Patient education is provided as an integral part of every medical imaging or therapeutic procedure
Importance of patient education
- Education takes place before and throughout the procedure or treatment1-4.
- Education is an essential part of the consent process5.
- All patient questions are answered prior to moving forward/continuing with a procedure/treatment which can decrease anxiety5,8
- Patients are educated regarding their care to assure their full understanding of the procedure/treatment1-4:
- Use terms and language the patient can understand
- Personalize standard explanations where possible
- Provide patients the opportunity to have their questions or concerns addressed in all phases of a procedure or treatment
Answering patient questions
- Addressing questions before the procedure/treatment has been shown to lead to better outcomes6.
- For example, it can help to alleviate any anxiety6,8
- Answer questions clearly and use terms the patient will understand.
- Information should be geared to the individual, for some patients you may be able to give more detail or use medical terms
- For patients with a limited understanding of the language spoken by the MRT, interpretation must be provided to the patient.
- When the question is beyond the MRT’s scope of practice it should be referred to the most appropriate healthcare professional(s).
- It is not within the MRT’s scope of practice to share information with the patient on their diagnosis, prognosis, etc.
- Communicating a diagnosis is a controlled/reserved medical act in many Canadian jurisdictions5,6
Patient education in practice
- What needs to be discussed with the patient varies by procedure:
- Radiological technology
- Nuclear medicine
- Magnetic resonance
- Radiation therapy
- Printed, video or interactive materials often help to illustrate the concepts you are explaining.
- All materials should be easy to understand, available in other languages, and reflective of the patient population7
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References
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Kowalczyk N, Donnett K. Integrated Patient Care for the Imaging Professional. St. Louis, MO: Mosby-Year Book Inc.; 1996.
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Ehrlich RA, Coakes DM. Patient Care in Radiography with an Introduction to Medical Imaging. 9th ed. Elsevier; 2017.
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Dowd SB, Ott K. The radiologic technologist’s role in patient education. Radiol Technol. 1998;69(5):443–460.
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O’Connor G, Drennan C. Optimising patient care: meeting the needs of the paediatric oncology patient. J Diag Radiog Imag. 2003;5:33–38.
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Rozovsky LE. The Canadian law of consent to treatment. 3rd ed. Toronto, ON: Lexis Nexis Canada Inc.; 2003.
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Stewart MA. Effective physician-patient communication and health outcomes: a review. CMAJ. 1995;152(9):1423-1433.
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Nova Scotia Health Authority. Patient Education. NSHA Library Services. Available from: http://library.nshealth.ca/PatientEducation. [Accessed 15 May 2018]
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Canil T, Cashell A, Papadakos J, et al. Evaluation of the Effects of Pre-Treatment Education on Self-Efficacy and Anxiety in Patients Receiving Radiation Therapy: A Pilot Study. J Med Imaging Radiat Sci. 2012;43:221-227.