Intrahospital transport to the radiology department: Risk for adverse events, nursing surveillance, utilization of a MET, and practice implications

Abstract

Nurses providing care in the radiology department (RD) are challenged by the broad scope of conditions and varied acuity of patients served by this unit. Nurses must facilitate the required diagnostic testing and simultaneously provide the surveillance necessary to detect physiologic changes signaling the need for rescue interventions. When instability occurs, one method of rescue involves activation of a medical emergency team (MET) to bring an experienced cadre of critical care providers to the unstable patient. Despite recognition that the RD can be a high-risk area, there is little in the literature specific to the surveillance of RD patients, risk for and prevention of adverse events, MET activation or the management of patient instability specific to the RD. The purpose of this article is to examine what is known regarding risk for adverse events during intrahospital transport, utilization of a MET as a rescue intervention, and practice implications. Copyright © 2011 by the Association for Radiologic & Imaging Nursing.