Radiology - Information for Nursing Staff and Carers - Nuclear Medicine patient

Patient Name: 

NHS Number: 

The patients attending the Nuclear Medicine department will have been administered a radioactive material, usually by intravenous injection.

The patient and their body fluids, especially blood and urine, will be radioactive for up to 48 hours. This leaflet gives advice on the precautions on how to care for these patients.

All the tests in the Nuclear Medicine department are diagnostic, therefore the doses received by nursing staff/carers are very small.

It is advisable that pregnant nursing staff or carers should not attend to recently injected radioactive patients for a period of 24 hours.

There is no need:

• To interrupt normal nursing or any other care
• For isolation or separate care

Contact the Nuclear Medicine department for special advice (0161 206 4861) if you are nursing/caring for a patient who has been administered a radioactive injection:

• More than once per week and this involves prolonged close contact (eg. more than 30 minutes within arm’s length in the first few hours after injection)

Otherwise follow the advice below:

• Always use personal protective equipment when handling body fluids or items that might be contaminated.
• Ambulant patients should use the patient’s toilet and flush twice after use. Normal hand washing hygiene must follow
• Bedbound patients or those who require toileting assistance:
  –    Empty bed pans carefully avoiding spills. Flush twice
• Incontinent patients would preferably be catheterised before injection:
  –    Urine bags should be emptied and kept separate for at least 48 hours. It can then be disposed as clinical waste
  –    Incontinence pads should be disposed using the same procedure as urine bags
• If clothing or bedding becomes contaminated:
  –    Wash the skin thoroughly with soap and water
  –    Bag and keep separate clothes/bedding for 72 hours after which they can be washed/sent to hospital laundry
• If a spillage of body fluid occurs:
  –    Wearing gloves and an apron mop up the spill immediately
  –    All waste produced during the cleaning processes, or caring for the patient, eg. paper towels, gloves, aprons, must be kept separate for at least 48 hours. They can then be disposed as clinical waste
• Label the contaminated items clinical waste or clothes and bedding bags using labels A or B which can be cut out of this leaflet. Keep the labelled bags separate in e.g. dirty facility, ward sluice, patient private toilet

Quick reference

Urine bags, incontinence pads and other contaminated clinical waste - keep isolated for 48 hours before disposing as clinical waste.

Contaminated clothing or bedding - keep isolated for 72 hours before washing.

It is advisable that pregnant nursing staff or carers should not attend to recently injected radioactive patients for a period of 24 hours.
 
Label A - Cut out and apply to radioactive contaminated clinical waste

Contaminated wates items 

Label B - Cut out and apply to radioactive contaminated clothing or bedding

If further information is required, please contact:

Nuclear Medicine Department
Salford Royal Hospital
Stott Lane
Salford M6 8HD
Email: radio.isotopes@nca.nhs.uk