![\"UVA](\"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/191\/2022\/08\/DSC_3216-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The patient care team in the UVA Division of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging is small\u2014just twelve people\u2014but they play an outsize role in the lives of their patients.<\/p>\n
These technologists, nurses, access associates and coordinators who work to schedule, image and treat patients come to develop deep relationships with the people they serve. And they get to see the extraordinary impact that the care they provide has on their patients\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n
Adam Campbell<\/strong>, Nuclear Medicine Technologist, has been at UVA for just a year and a half, but he has already been affected by the close relationships he has developed with patients. \u201cWe see people at some of their darkest times,\u201d Campbell says, \u201cAnd we are able to be a light for them, either around their diagnosis or during a recovery time.\u201d<\/p>\n For the Nuclear Medicine team, getting to know the people they care for and being a light in dark times is what makes their work so fulfilling.<\/p>\n Hunter Beverley<\/strong> is the Supervisor of Nuclear Medicine and PET\/CT. He leads a team of six technologists as well as a lead QA\/QT technologist. They work closely with Jeri Pugh<\/strong>, RN, the Nuclear Medicine Nurse Coordinator, administrative coordinator Tamika Hassel<\/strong>, and two front desk associates, Jeff Fry<\/strong> and Lori Diaz<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of people ask how we\u2019re different from CT,\u201d Beverley says. \u201cI tell them that CT is anatomical<\/em> but nuclear medicine is physiological<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n Nuclear medicine imaging shows how organs or other systems in the body are functioning in real-time. Patients are injected with specific types of molecules called radiotracers, which are absorbed by the parts of the body that need to be examined. They give off a small amount of radiation which a nuclear medicine camera can read. This real-time, functional view gives doctors a better understanding of tumors, infections, organ function and blood circulation.<\/p>\n But the most exciting developments in nuclear medicine, as Beverley sees it, lie in new forms of treatment. \u201cAs nuclear medicine is going into the future, not only are we able to image and help diagnose patients, but we are now involved in treatment,\u201d he says. This rapidly growing field of therapy is called theranostics<\/em>, and it\u2019s among the most exciting and cutting-edge areas in medicine.<\/p>\n At UVA, the nuclear medicine division performs new targeted treatments for neuroendocrine tumors and prostate cancer, with many more treatments on the horizon.<\/p>\n Currently, UVA has four nuclear medicine cameras, one PET\/CT scanner and two treatment rooms. On a normal day, the division will image about 18 patients with PET\/CT and another 15 to 20 patients with the other cameras.<\/p>\n That may not sound like a lot of patients, but it\u2019s important to note that nuclear medicine scans take a long time.<\/p>\n \u201cThe average nuclear medicine scan time is 20 minutes,\u201d Beverley says. \u201cBut PET scans take two hours, with an IV, injection of the radiotracer, and then scanning. Bone scans are a three-hour process. Some exams take three days, with an injection on day one, and then two days of imaging.\u201d<\/p>\n With exams this complex and time-consuming, technologists and other team members must work closely together to care for their patients.<\/p>\n The front desk team is the public face of Nuclear Medicine. They check patients in and alert clinical staff that they have arrived. Technologists bring patients back to a prep room, prepare them for their exams, bring them to the scanners and perform the imaging exams using the complex machinery. If injections or IVs are needed, either a technologist or a nurse will take care of it.<\/p>\n After imaging, technologists will check on the patients and monitor them for any adverse effects up until the time they are ready to leave. This means that technologists are with patients the entire time they are here.<\/p>\n \u201cWe keep techs with the same patients each time they come in,\u201d says Beverley. \u201cWe don\u2019t want patients to have a new team each visit. We want them to know us and know that the same person will be taking care of them each time they are here.\u201d<\/p>\n Much of the work with patients between visits\u2014scheduling appointments and labs, entering orders, and doing patient education\u2014is done by Jeri Pugh, the Nuclear Medicine Nurse Coordinator. Beverley calls this work \u201cthe big-picture items\u201d that make it possible for patients to be ready to be imaged or treated safely when they arrive in the division.<\/p>\n As the first point of contact for most patients referred to nuclear medicine, Pugh hears their initial concerns and fears, especially around radiation and its effects. A question she has heard many times once patients learn about radiation, is \u201cam I going to glow?\u201d She reassures them that the exams and treatments her team performs are safe.<\/p>\n Pugh came to the division in April 2021, after eleven years in the ER and a long-term care facility. Just like her patients, Pugh didn\u2019t know much about Nuclear Medicine when she started. But she quickly learned a huge amount of information, aided by her physician and technologist colleagues.<\/p>\n \u201cI am still continuing to learn, which is something I love about this job,\u201d she says. \u201cIts a growing field with a lot of new treatments and imaging techniques coming out.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe most rewarding part of my job is getting to know patients over time,\u201d she continues, \u201cas often patients come back for repeat imaging and restaging. It\u2019s not just a one-time visit\u2014we get to see patients through highs and lows, developing relationships with them over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n Her patients come from a wide geographic area and different socioeconomic groups, which brings challenges. In particular, coordinating precautions after receiving radioactive treatment can be difficult for some patients, like those with small children who don\u2019t have other childcare options, for example, or who share a room with several people and can\u2019t stay the recommended distance away from them. In those cases, Pugh helps to organize and coordinate alternative places for them to stay for a few days, or make child care arrangements.<\/p>\n \u201cWe come together to do everything we can for a patient,\u201d she says. \u201cWe work well together to take care of a patient as a whole. The friendly attitude here really makes it such a positive work environment to be in. And I think patients can feel that. When you go in somewhere and staff are unhappy, you can tell. Our satisfaction goes a long way towards our patients\u2019 satisfaction.\u201d<\/p>\n Beverley agrees with Pugh. \u201cOur team does really well with taking care of our patients and making sure they have what they need,\u201d he says. \u201cWe have protocols for everything. But sometimes things fall outside of those protocols, so you also have to know how to use the resources you have. How will you work with other departments to take care of a patient? What other people in the health system can you call upon?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSay a patient\u2019s car breaks down the day before an exam,\u201d he continues. \u201cWe will call social workers to make sure they can get a ride here. We always ask \u2018How can we help? How can we go one step further to help?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Going the extra mile is something that patients notice.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the biggest feedback I hear from patients,\u201d Beverley says. \u201cThey say \u2018Where is ____? They took such good care of me.\u2019 Or I\u2019ll get a patient note that might say: \u2018So-and-so did an outstanding job today. He was able to relate to my son and talk with him about skateboarding.\u2019 It\u2019s more than just \u2018he did a great job.\u2019 It shows me that we made a real impact on that patient.\u201d<\/p>\n Technologist Adam Campbell agrees that the bond he forms with patients makes a real different for their care. \u201cUntil working here, I never knew how deep of a bond you can form with a patient from just working with them for a few hours,\u201d he says. \u201cBut now I see how much that time together can mean.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The patient care team in the UVA Division of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging is small\u2014just twelve people\u2014but they play an outsize role in the lives of their patients. These technologists, nurses, access associates and coordinators who work to schedule, image and treat patients come to develop deep relationships with the people they serve. And […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1923,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-radiology-stories"],"acf":false,"yoast_head":"\nNuclear Medicine 101<\/h2>\n
![\"UVA](\"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/191\/2022\/08\/DSC_3180-scaled-e1660336083257-1024x435.jpg\")
<\/h2>\nBy the Numbers<\/h2>\n
A Patient’s Journey Through Nuclear Medicine<\/h2>\n
Am I Going to Glow?<\/h2>\n
Going the Extra Mile<\/h2>\n