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Posted At : 2/26/07 9:40 AM | Posted By : Trista A. Raymer
Related Categories: About Me

In what kind of setting do you practice? Please describe what it's like working in that kind of setting.
I work in a not for profit hospital strictly dedicated to the care of children. I love my job because I'm given the opportunity to perform clinical scans but also have administrative responsibilities which I feel provides excellent work experience for the future. I also enjoy working with children.

What are your greatest professional accomplishments thus far?
Being promoted to Team Leader and receiving my MR certification.

What are your professional goals for the future?
To continue to develop my skills by learning new technology. For instance, our facility will be installing a 3T MR system this year and my hope is to become an expert with this new technology.

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I work with pediatric cancer patients and wondered what are the most prevelant questions you receive from kids ages 8 - 12 who are having the procedure done for the first time?

Also, how is that information conveyed?
# Posted By Douglas | 3/3/07 2:34 PM
Trista, I also work at a not for profit facility. Do you ever feel like you are a little behind the times because of a budget?
# Posted By terri | 3/3/07 11:55 PM
Can you elaborate on how your facility is handling the new information on MR contrast and NSF/NFD? Especially in your population, you must have patients whose renal function is abnormal - what is your current process/policy?

Thank you, in advance, for your information!

Emily Blomenberg, BS,CRA, RT (R)
Morristown, TN
# Posted By Emily Blomenberg | 3/5/07 8:47 AM
Douglas,
The most common questions we receive from patients are..."Does it hurt?"and "How long will it take?".
It does not hurt and time depends on the scan being performed.
We offer nonsedate patients a choice of watching a movie or listening to music. This is a good distraction for the children.
Trista
# Posted By Trista Raymer | 3/6/07 1:25 PM
Terri,
I do not feel that being non-profit effects our institution. We have solid financial planning for operations and capital which helps "keep us with the times."
We are currently under major renovations at our hospital. We are installing a 3T scanner, upgrading our Symphony to an Avanto and upgrading our existing Avanto to an 18 channel. We will also install an IMRI in August of this year.
Trista Raymer
# Posted By Trista Raymer | 3/6/07 1:31 PM
Emily,
At our institution we scan more patients for obstruction than for acute or chronic renal disease. When doing a patient with severe renal disease, we will use Prohance instead of our typical Magnevist.
Trista Raymer
# Posted By Trista Raymer | 3/6/07 1:34 PM
I have also worked for a Childrens Hospital. Namely Chilren's Memorial in Chicago. They were also not for profit and I always felt that in some ways we had MORE money because there was not someone somewhere wanting to take money out of the organisation. This always allowed the hospital to explore areas of treatment (technology wise) that were right on the cutting edge.
# Posted By Mark Henning | 3/7/07 2:46 PM
On the financial area and being behind the times, I strongly believe no matter how well funded you are, it's always important to interface with the right vendors and solution providers. I have seen many an organization that are well funded but are way behind the times due to funds being spent on the wrong projects. I remember a facility that were more concerned with spending millions of dollars on just data storage infrastructure from a 3 letter vendor (without mentioning names but it's a physics based 3 letter name and sometimes end with the word "squared") due to personal relationships at top levels. Well, when Katrina hit, they lost everything! They had capacity but no process, no disaster recovery, nothing! All because priorities did not involve investing in their MRI staff and placing any value in their opinions. The more you surround yourself with the right vendors, you more successful and with the times you will be.

Alani Kuye
Phantom Data Systems Inc.
Norwalk, CT
http://www.phantomdatasystems.com/pacs.html
# Posted By Alani Kuye | 6/22/08 9:50 PM
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