24 CARE OF PATIENT IN DIAGNOSTIC RADIOGRAPHY

type of towel dispenser which continuously provides a fresh area of towel

for each user.
The dark room also may be a good ground for the growth of bacteria.
Tanks and water-jacket in the processing unit should be regularly cleaned
out, not only because cleanliness is a necessary feature in photographic
processing, but because the moisture, lack of sunlight, and even tempera
ture of the surroundings are so favourable to the growth of bacterial
organisms.
The X-ray rooms and changing rooms should be well ventilated and
must be kept clean and tidy. Accessories such as the pads previously men
tioned, head clamps, angle boards, and protractors should be kept in closed
cupboards where they are more likely to escape dust. The top of the X-ray
table and the front surface of the erect Potter-Bucky stand should be
cleaned down with solution (for example 'Dettol' or
a suitable antiseptic
'Roccal'), and particular attention should be paid to this if the patient has
been in direct contact with it as may occur in radiography of the skull
and sinuses.
It is part of the radiographer's responsibility to see that the department
is clean, even if it is not necessary for the radiographer actually to under
take much cleaning. In most cases general cleaning will be done by the
hospital cleaners, but the work of cleaning equipment and various acces
sories will be taken by the radiographer. No one should find the task
beneath professional dignity, for the maintenance of clean conditions is an
important part of departmental care, and is related to our responsibility
towards the patient.

GENERAL COMFORT AND REASSURANCE FOR

THE PATIENT
Patients of course
spend periods of time in the X-ray department which
vary according to the nature of the examination and the departmental
conditions. The interval can vary from 20 minutes to a period of
several hours. We must make the patient's stay, however brief, as pleasant
as possible. This demands both attention to general conditions regarding
adequate ventilation and provision of shelter from draughts, and time
taken to see that the patient is comfortable. Often, for example, when a
patient has to wait lying upon a stretcher, it needs but a slight re-arrange
ment of the pillows and his position to make a great difference to his
comfort. Even the busiest of us can spare the few seconds to do this.
If he has to wait a long while, the patient will do so with an easier mind