Patient Care in Radiography Handbook 2026

The Patient-Care Side of Radiography, Taught as a Trainable Clinical Skill
Patient Care in Radiography Handbook 2026 is a clinical reference built around the moment a patient's condition changes and a technologist must recognize it and act, without a radiologist at the shoulder. Grounded in current ARRT Patient Care and Safety domain content, it covers the full non-interpretive scope of the discipline: assessment, communication, infection control, pharmacology, contrast media safety, acute emergency response, and the judgment required across pediatric, geriatric, trauma, and mobile or surgical settings. Positioning and image acquisition are left to a companion volume; this book teaches how to protect the person while the image is taken.
Readers leave each chapter able to name the specific clinical cue, read its real-patient presentation, and apply the correct next action under time pressure.
Inside, readers will find:
• Structured patient assessment and vital sign interpretation — building the trend-recognition skill that catches deterioration before it becomes an emergency
• Contrast media pharmacology, screening, and premedication protocols — reducing reaction risk before administration ever begins
• Acute contrast reaction classification and management — matching response to physiologic and allergic-like presentations by severity
• Extravasation, contrast-induced nephropathy, and special population considerations — covering pregnancy, lactation, and metformin interaction protocols
• Cardiopulmonary arrest, airway compromise, and basic life support technique — specific to the imaging department's equipment and layout
• Shock, syncope, acute stroke, and seizure recognition — with the precise response sequence each presentation requires
• Pediatric, geriatric, trauma, and mobile or surgical care — spinal precautions, delirium recognition, and non-accidental trauma reporting
• Radiation safety applied as bedside patient care, plus documentation and incident reporting practices that support genuine quality improvement
For radiography students entering clinical rotations, new graduates carrying independent patient responsibility for the first time, and practicing technologists who want a direct refresher on the judgment side of the job, this handbook turns the moment of recognition into familiar ground.