An assessment of radiographer's technical and protective performance in hospitals affiliated to Birjand University of Medical Sciences in 2012

Notwithstanding the benefits of radiography, the staff of radiography wards must take necessary care to minimize their own and patients’ exposure to harmful rays. Therefore, the present paper aimed at assessing the radiolographers’ awareness and performance concerning technical and protective principles. In this descriptive-analytical study, all the 26 radiolographers working in the radiology wards of Vali-asr and Imam Reza hospitals of Birjand participated. In order to collect data about their performance, a checklist whose reliability and validity had been approved was provided. For the radiography staff 17 technical and 12 protective items during three work shifts were checked and recorded. In order to measure their awareness of technical and protective principles, a 12-item questionnaire was completed by each of them. The obtained data was statistically analyzed by means of SPSS software using X2. Mean Performance score in the technical area in the three work shifts was 15±1.60, and that of the protective area was 10.9±1.1 both of which were at an average level. Around 46.5% of the subjects gave correct answers to protective and 37.2% of them to the technical questions. The comparison of technical and protective performance scores showed no significant difference in terms of work shifts, education, gender, and type of employment (P>0.05). The radiographers’ awareness of technical and protective principles was at a very low level. Therefore, both quality academic training and in-service education seem necessary.