JOURNAL OF DIAGNOSTIC MEDICAL SONOGRAPHY最新文献

Objectives: Supporting sonographers' health and well-being requires targeting the workplace factors they identify as most influential. This study examined sonographers' perspectives to guide priorities for resource allocation and solution development.

Materials & methods: An online survey of 1,276 U.S. and Canadian sonographers asked participants to rate 30 workplace factors across four categories-workflow, equipment/physical environment, administrative/organizational environment, and training/health practices-on their perception of impact on well-being and importance for understanding and improving. Respondents selected up to five factors as the highest priorities for immediate action and resource allocation.

Results: Five factors ranked among the top ten across specialties and were rated as significantly impactful and important by more than two-thirds of respondents: productivity requirements (76.9% impact, 74.3% importance), staff scheduling policies (73.2%, 74.4%), supervisor support (72.1%, 71.2%), exam room furniture (73.1%, 68.0%), and ultrasound machine design (69.3%, 75.6%). Exam scheduling was the top priority across all practice areas and the only factor identified in the top five by a majority of all respondents.

Conclusions: While specialty area differences exist, sonographers consistently identified administrative and organizational factors as the most impactful, important, and of highest priority for immediate action. Addressing these concerns requires contextualized solutions developed with direct practitioner input.

Objective: Currently, no standardized sonography protocol for evaluating the distal flexor tendons in the hand exists. The aims of this research were to 1) establish an image acquisition protocol to standardize assessment and 2) describe typical variations in the morphology of flexor tendons in healthy individuals.

Materials and methods: A sonography protocol was developed, refined, and deployed in a cohort of healthy volunteers to collect images and cine clips of flexor tendons beginning at the mid-palm through insertion at the distal phalanx. Longitudinal and cross-sectional images of the tendons were measured at each joint space (e.g., the metacarpophalangeal, proximal interphalangeal, and distal phalangeal joints). Through an iterative process, images from each location were compared across participants.

Results: The anatomic patterns and unique presentations of hand flexor tendons in 15 healthy volunteers were identified and described, including the bifurcation of the flexor digitorum superficialis tendon and the atypical presentation of muscle bellies in the distal hand. Best practices for imaging and morphologic variability were described in a final detailed imaging protocol.

Conclusion: A detailed sonography protocol was established, and standardization in imaging practices using such a protocol should be considered when scanning tendons in the distal hand to enhance rigor and reliability in clinical and research evaluations of the flexor tendons.

A virtual participatory workshop was held to address the issue of prioritizing image quality over the risk of work-related musculoskeletal injury (WRMSI) and burnout. The data that were collected from the session was analyzed qualitatively to discover the possible factors that could negatively affect the quality of sonographic examinations, without blaming the sonographer. The capture of rich discussion centered on the need to strike a proper balance between a high-quality sonogram without contributing to negative effects to a sonographers' health and safety. As a sonographer's health declines, the physical abilities and cognitive focus required to perform one's best also declines, resulting in lower overall quality and a downward spiral of declining health and quality. Identifying solutions to maintain a proper balance between image quality and sonographer health and safety is paramount. To successfully implement and maintain workplace solutions, sonographers, clinic staff, and administrators must work together to determine which solutions can be trialed in the workplace. Further practical research is needed to quantitatively measure some of the key themes from the workshop: the need for structural change to reinforce the necessity of WRMSI risk reduction, ongoing prioritization of quality over WRMSI risk reduction, and an urgent need to teach students WRMSI risk reduction.

Objective: Burnout in sonographers is a prevalent and complex professional hazard associated with poorer quality of work life, productivity, and patient outcomes. This study aimed to understand the prevalence of and work systems factors associated with burnout among a large sample of sonographers.

Materials and methods: Research study registry participants (n=3659) were invited to complete a follow-up survey about personal and work environment factors, including work hours, break time, coworker and supervisor support, and job satisfaction, overall health, and sleep quality. The Copenhagen Burnout Inventory assessed personal, work-related, and client burnout. Simple and multiple linear regressions were used to identify work systems factors associated with burnout.

Results: Of 1389 respondents, over half reported moderate-to-severe personal and work-related burnout, while one-quarter reported moderate-to-severe client burnout. Higher work-related burnout was associated with younger age, working in the Western U.S., working full-time work, taking fewer weekly break hours, poorer overall health and sleep quality, and lower supervisor support and job satisfaction. Client burnout was associated with poorer sleep quality and lower job satisfaction.

Conclusion: Burnout was prevalent in a large sample of sonographers. Multilevel work systems factors are associated with burnout, suggesting collaboration among sonographers, administrators, and organizations is needed to address burnout.