Unlike X-rays, radioactive materials may be widely used throughout the hospital. They may be present in laboratories or in any place where patients are examined or cared for. To protect workers from radionuclides, attention must be paid to methods of handling them and to the laboratories where they are used. This section contains information to help minimize radiation exposure during diagnostic, therapeutic, and laboratory procedures. The purpose of diagnostic procedures is to determine an organ's shape and how it is functioning.
Most diagnostic procedures use small amounts of radioactive materials with short half-lives.
Thus patients who are receiving such materials pose little risk of exposing others. Workers involved in the care of patients who have undergone any of these therapeutic procedures should receive a sheet of specific instructions on proper patient care, see NCRP 1970 for details. Workers should enter the patient's room to perform normal hospital duties but they should not spend time visiting or performing nonvital personal services without authorization. Patients should be asked to care for themselves insofar as possible. Visitors may call, but they should stand at least 6 ft from the patient.