Horton 1
Assignment: Essay 3 Final
Professor: Dr. Skutar
English 2089
29 th of March 2015
Abstract
Morphine and Oxycodone are a tightly controlled and regulated substance that is very toxic to our society. Why are x-rays not treated as such? Like medication, patients need a prescription from a physician in order to have an x-ray. Like medication, at just the right dose the x-ray becomes therapeutic. Like medication, too much and patients can get sick. Like medication, radiation is harmful because if not dispensed correctly, accurately and with radiation safety always in mind, the risk of over exposure to radiation can be devastating. Just because radiation is odorless, just because you cannot see radiation and just because you cannot feel the radiation, does not mean that radiation is non-existent. Why are x-rays so harmful one might ask? X-rays are harmful because they produce ionizing radiation. Ionizing radiation has harmful effects on the human anatomy to the fundamental building blocks that we are made of. These building blocks are what we known as DNA. We do not want to be radiated with nuclear bombs or live next to nuclear power plants so why do we want to receive extreme dosages of radiation from our medical professionals.

Horton 2
Assignment: Essay 3 Final
Professor: Dr. Skutar
English 2089
29th of March 2015
Proposal
The purpose of this presentation is to enhance the audience’s awareness of the realization that the issue of over radiating our patients currently exist within our medical facilities across the nation. This presentation is not designed to scare people but to simply inform them that radiation can be dangerous and can cause life altering changes if not taken seriously. The audience will become more self-aware of the importance of radiation safety and what harmful effects radiation can cause on people. The discussion will include a brief history lesson as to how x-rays were discovered and what extreme levels of radiation can do to the human body. There will also be a discussion on methods that are used to reduce the exposure of radiation to our patient population. Some of these discussions are rescanning of patients due to the loss of medical information not transferred with medical records as well as the incompatibility with software amongst medical facilities such as electronic medical records, picture archiving systems, etc. In conclusion this presentation should help to facilitate, enhance and appreciate alternative ways that can be approached in medicine. This will allow a better delivery system amongst our medical facilities to reduce the chances of over radiating patients in general.

Horton 3
Assignment: Essay 3 Final
Professor: Dr. Skutar
English 2089
29th of March 2015
Evaluative Annotated Bibliography
Acosta, Renee. Pharmacology for Health Professionals 2 nd ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams
& Wilkins, 2013. Print.
This source will be relevant to my topic because I want to touch on the fact that drugs are a controlled substance. This is why a prescription is needed from the physician in order to obtain certain controlled substances. The drugs that are mentioned in this text explain that there is a high potential to have effects by them both physically and psychologically. By correlating drugs to x-rays my audience should be able to digest the information that they will receive from the presentation.
Balter, Stephen. Miller, Donald. et al. “Radiation Dose Measurements and Monitoring for
Fluoroscopically Guided Interventional Procedures.” American College of Radiology. May 2012.
595-597. National Center for Biotechnology Center. 12 th March 2015
The emphasis this article makes are statements regarding fluoroscopic imaging that is considered the only imaging modality that is used in diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.
This article also explains that the machinery that is used in labs today also keep track of how much radiation the patient receives during the procedure. This is information that is used to track the overall dosage each individual patient receives from the procedures that are being conducted in the medical facility.
Bushong, Stewart. Radiologic Science for Technologist; Physics, Biology and Protection 4 th ed.
St. Louis, Elsevier Mosby, 2004: Print.
This source has several great references regarding how x-ray energy is produced as well as x-ray interaction with matter and living tissue. This text book will also give a basic over view of some of the imaging modalities that are used in the production of x-rays. There is also an extensive amount of information regarding patient safety and the human biological response when exposed to radiation. It will also cover cellular and radiobiology as well as the early and late effects of radiation on a catastrophic level of nuclear bombs.

Fauber, Terri. Radiographic Imaging and Exposure 2 nd ed. St. Louis, Mosby, 2004: Print
Horton 4
Resourcing this information I will be able to include a brief history lesson as to when x-rays were discovered and who discovered this widely used form of science that has become integrated with medicine. This text book will also help to define in a general way what x-rays are.
Heyer, Christopher MD; Thuring, Johannas MD. et al. “Anxiety of Patients Undergoing CT
Imaging- An Underestimated Problem” Academic Radiology (2015): 105-112. UC online
Library. 10 March 2015.
This article reflects on how patients themselves can contribute to having an increase of radiation exposure by not cooperating with the radiologic technologist or other means out of there control. Understanding that patients feel afraid and have anxiety about the CT imaging machine may result in poor images for the radiologist to read in order to make an appropriate diagnosis.
Mahesh, Mahadevappa. Detorie, Nicholas. “The New Joint Commission Sentinel Event
Pertaining to Prolonged Fluoroscopy” American College of Radiology. March 2007. 497-500.
National Center for Biotechnology Center. March 12th 2015.
This reference encompasses as to what classifies a joint commission sentinel event. This article discusses that there are no specific guide lines pertaining to prolonged radiation exposure. The article gives a great explanation and break down of the approximate skin and hair threshold regarding radiation. The chart listed in the reference also explains what the result is once a patient receives a specific dosage of radiation to the particular area of the skin.
Miller, Donald. Hollington, Lu. Et al. “Radiation Doses in Interventional Radiology Procedures:
The RAD-IR Study” Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology (2003): 977-990. National
Center for Biotechnology Center. 12 March 2015.
This article is about a study that was conducted over a three year period to determine the peak skin dose of patients. This study was conducted to determine the effects of radiation induced skin effects that patients can receive after they have had an extensive interventional procedure.
This study also helped to identify what procedures were related and contributed to the increase of radiation exposure to the patients.

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Vlietstra, Ronald; Wagner, Louis. “X-ray Burns – Painful, Protracted and Preventable.” Clinical
Cardiology. 31, 4. (2008) 145-147. National Center for Biotechnology Center. 12th March 2015.
The emphasis of this article explains that high doses of radiation during fluoroscopic cardiology interventional procedures may produce deep skin burns on the backs of patients. This also brings a since of awareness to the cardiologist that skin burns can be induced by excessive radiation during complicated procedures. This is to make cardiologist, cath lab staff and directors to pay more attention and be more vigilant with continuing education and educating the staff about these precautions.
Vlietstra, Ronald; Wagner, Louis. “Radiation Burns as a Severe Complication of Fluoroscopically
Guided Cardiological Interventions” Journal of Interventional Cardiology. Vol 17, 3, (2004) 131-
141. National Center for Biotechnology Center. 12 th March 2015.
Here is another article that explains radiation burns more in depth. The article also shows examples of how radiation burns appear on patients as well as what can be identified and avoided. This article also goes into detail about radiation effects on the skin, measurement of absorbed x-ray dosages as well as risk factors associated with x-ray burns. The article also includes a discussion about how x-ray burns can be avoided and not cause damaging effects to our patients.
Weinberg, Brent MD; Guild, Jeffery; et al. “Understanding and Using Fluoroscopic Dose Display
Information.” Current Problems in Diagnostic Radiology (2015): 38-46. UC online Library. 10
March 2015.
This journal article explains the effects of how the physician can understand more in detail as to knowing that they are giving patients high doses of radiation during the procedure. There is a section in the article where it explains about radiation dosage levels that become too high and that the radiation can cause tissue changes and may result in permanent tissue damage that may require surgical intervention.