Radiographers’ knowledge about MRI safety : impact of an educational intervention

Abstract

Purpose: Safety has become a necessary requirement throughout the MRI pathway because of the risks associated with the MRI environment. Hence, safety knowledge and education need to be evaluated to maintain safe practice and a quality service.

Objective: This study aims to assess the radiographers’ level of knowledge about MRI safety issues, assess the impact of an educational intervention on such knowledge and evaluate whether such knowledge is retained.

Methodology: The study used a prospective longitudinal pre-experimental design with a one group pre-test post-test method. Thirty-five MR radiographers were eligible to participate in this study. These were asked to complete a self-designed multiple-choice questionnaire at three-time intervals, at baseline (pre-test), immediately after an educational intervention (post-test), as well as 3 weeks following the completion of the second questionnaire (retention test). The educational intervention involved providing participants with one-month access to a series of online videos, specifically designed for the purpose of this study to educate radiographers about eight competence areas of MR safety.

Results: At pre-test, the majority of participants got at least half of their responses correct, with only 20% (n=7) obtaining more than 75% correct. Radiographers were mostly knowledgeable about cryogen and other emergency procedures and least in contrast administration. In this cohort, the number of hours worked per week in MRI and a Masters’ degree qualification were positively associated with radiographers’ knowledge about MR safety. After the intervention, post-test total scores showed a statistically significant difference over the pre-test total scores (p=0.032). The intervention was significantly successful in the sections which radiographers previously lacked knowledge. Statistical significance was found between the two post interventional tests implying that knowledge was not retained. Despite this, there was nevertheless slight retention in radiographers’ MR safety knowledge over the pre-intervention performance.

Conclusion: The study identified the use of online lectures as an effective educational tool to support the knowledge of MR radiographers about MR safety for a short-term but not enough to reach the long-term memory.