Real-Life Communication
Echocardiographers need polished communication skills. They interact
extensively with the doctor and the patient.
"You must be able to communicate
clearly and effectively," says Brad Ferguson of South Carolina. "You must
be able to explain complex medical procedures to patients who may have no
medical background and do not understand what is going to be done to them."
Margaret
Corbett says that once you scan a patient, it is your job to write down the
findings in a report that the doctor will read closely. As such, your writing
skills must be strong.
Janel Mays of Minnesota agrees. "Cardiac sonographers
must have excellent written and verbal communication skills to interact effectively
with patients, families, physicians and other members of the health-care team."
You
are scanning a 58-year-old man, Manny Cooke, who has no symptoms. Since he
has a family history of coronary disease, he requested a test. In fact, the
scan shows that the man does have a heart problem, but it is not what he is
expecting. He has a tiny air bubble in his vessel. The blood is not flowing
freely to and from his heart.
Try to write a short paragraph explaining
the echo to the doctors. Be sure to include the patient's name, age, medical
history, why he was being scanned and what you saw in the scan. Use some of
the following words to spice up your report:
Asymptomatic --
a patient with no symptoms of vascular disease
Infarction --
an area of dead tissue or organ resulting from obstruction of the local circulation
by a thrombus or embolus
Embolus -- an abnormal particle (such
as an air bubble) circulating in the blood