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Abstract

CRNAs provide anesthesia for surgeries that utilize ionizing radiation daily and must possess the knowledge to protect themselves from the adverse biological sequelae that can be caused by ionizing radiation exposure. CRNAs must comply with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) ionizing radiation standards and not exceed an annual whole-body dose equivalent of 1.25 rem per quarter or 5 rem per year (OSHA, n.d.). This quality improvement (QI) project aimed to assess and enhance Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) familiarity with the health hazards associated with exposure to ionizing radiation. This project used a comparative design to determine whether an online voice-over radiation safety educational infographic improved radiation safety knowledge. By increasing awareness of the risks of occupational exposure to ionizing radiation in the anesthesia setting, safer radiation precautions and practices can be promoted to minimize workplace exposure. The PICO question is, "In Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists, does a radiation safety online educational intervention enhance knowledge of radiation safety measures?" This project was part of a larger QI group project and was individualized based on the project's setting. The site for this QI project was an inner-city full-service hospital. The intervention contained a pre-test consisting of four demographic and 11 knowledge-based questions, a narrated radiation safety infographic, and a post-test consisting of the same knowledge-based questions as the pre-test. Data analysis revealed that the educational infographic enhanced Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) knowledge of radiation safety. CRNAs demonstrated the most improvement in their knowledge of potential health hazards of occupational exposure to ionizing radiation. The QI project recommends increasing distance from the radiation source, custom fit lead, acknowledgment of ionizing radiation use during the surgical time-out, and for CRNAs to be sent their quarterly dosimeter reports.

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