Diagnostic Radiopharmaceutical Exposure of Nurses in Health Care Units at a Large Research Hospital

Abstract

Objective: At large research hospitals a substantial number of inpatients receive diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals (DRPs). Our goal was to document the inventory of DRP assignments and to determine the radiation exposure received by nurses assigned to health care units containing a concentration of these patients.

Methods: Whole-body exposures were recorded (film badge) along with DRP type over a typical five-week period for 34 nurses assigned to the coronary care unit (CCU) and urology clinic. The number of DRP patients assigned hospital wide was compared to the total number of beds-in-service over the five-week study period. Comparison was made to the annual whole-body radiation exposure received by attending nuclear medicine technologists.

Results: The urology clinic and CCU had 9 and 10 patients who received diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals over the five-week study period. Bone (urology) and cardiac (CCU) DRPs dominated. Whole-body badges read M for all 34 nurses monitored. Hospital-wide, the percentage of beds/day occupied by a radiodiagnostic inpatient was < 1%. The mean annual whole-body exposure for 14 nuclear medicine technologists was 230 mrem after collectively performing > 7000 DRP studies.

Conclusion: The assignment of inpatients who have received DRPs at a large research hospital does not warrant the routine radiation badge monitoring of nursing personnel. This is further supported by the current trend to reduce inpatient hospital days as well as an increased scrutiny of DRP use.