A Qualitative Descriptive Study of the Work of Nurses in Interventional Radiology

Abstract

This dissertation study explored the work of nurses in interventional radiology. Interventional radiology (IR) is an emerging field of practice in health care. More and more procedures that were historically done in the operating room are being performed in IR. This has led to higher acuity patients and an increased need for specialized nursing care. The work of nurses in this area of practice is not well described and as such can lead to a lack of understanding of nursing involved in high tech low touch areas. This qualitative descriptive research study was conducted to shed light on this under examined practice area of nursing. The background of the study and its findings are presented in three individual manuscripts. The first manuscript entitled, "Work Domain of Nurses in Interventional Radiology" supplies the context for the work of nurses in IR. The work in IR involves a team of professionals including physicians, technologists and others; it is useful to understand the context of IR as a practice setting in a hospital environment. The second manuscript entitled, "Procedural Work of Nurses in Interventional Radiology," describes the findings for one of the main research questions of this study. What is the work of nurses in interventional radiology? The findings suggest that nurses engage in work practices that may be in variance to standards and guidelines of practice in these areas. Finally, the third manuscript entitled, "Learning the Work of Interventional Radiology Nursing," describes the findings for the other main research question of this study. How do nurses learn the work practices of interventional radiology? The findings suggest that the current orientation methods in IR could be improved with the use of guidelines from the Association of Radiologic and Imaging Nurses, policies and procedures.