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Radiographers' perception on task shifting to nurses and assistant nurses within the radiography profession
B Møller Christensen1, T Pettersson2, A Bjällmark1
1Department of Natural Science and Biomedicine, School of Health and Welfare, Jönköping University, Gjuterigatan 5, Jönköping, SE-553 18, Sweden.
Introduction:
The radiography profession is challenged by greater responsibilities and shortage of educated radiographers. Implementation of task shifting is one strategy to deal with the current situation in health care. The aim of this studiy was to evaluate radiographers' perception of assistant nurses and nurses carrying out tasks that traditionally were undertaken within the radiography profession in a Swedish context.
Methods:
An electronic questionnaire was distributed to radiographers at eleven hospitals in Sweden. The questionnaire included background questions and questions about radiographers' perception about task shifting to nurses and assistant nurses. The respondents rated their agreement level regarding task shifting on a five-point Likert scale. Data was statistically evaluated in SPSS using Mann Whitney U test.
Results:
Sixty-five radiographers participated in the study. Most radiographers responded negatively to task shifting to nurses (72%) or assistant nurses (65%). Most radiographers disagree that nurses should perform mammography screening or work within interventional radiography, while the attitude towards nurses calculating glomerular filtration rate was more positive. A majority disagree regarding assistant nurses performing conventional radiographs, informing the patient about contrast media administration or inserting peripheral intravenous catheters, while there was a positive attitude towards assistant nurses preparing patients for examinations. The attitude towards task shifting was not influenced by age, however radiographers with less working experience were more positive to task shifting in general.
Conclusion:
A majority of the radiographers had a negative attitude towards task shifting to nurses and assistant nurses. The radiographers were more positive to hand over tasks related to patient care and administrative tasks than technical related tasks within the profession.
Implications For Practice:
Knowledge about radiographers' perception on task shifting within the profession is essential when planning and implementing strategies for task shifting in the clinical settings.
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