| Skills |
Description |
Specific Examples |
| Motor Skills |
Abilities required of a candidate include gross and fine muscular movements, equilibrium, strength, for the handling of patient, self, and equipment. A candidate must have these abilities to provide safe care for patients in various states of mobility and awareness. |
- Elicit information from patients by palpation, auscultation, percussion, testing muscle strength and function, penetration of the skin, and other diagnostic maneuvers.
- Safely perform procedures.
- Provide other patient services and patient associated services.
- Safely lift, manipulate, and use equipment correctly.
- Lift fifty (50) pounds of weight up and over the level of the head.
- Reach up to six (6) feet off the floor, and ability to reach frequently.
- Transfer immobile patients from stretcher to sonography table with assistance.
- Transfer patients from wheelchair to stretcher or examination beds and back.
- Push a standard wheelchair from a waiting area or patient’s room to the department.
- Use a keyboard, mouse and/or trackball for inputting clinical data into consoles, computers, and electronic charts.
- Sitting less than 2 hours a day.
- Standing up to 80% of an 8‐hour day.
- Walking 4‐6 hours a day.
- Bending frequently
- Grasping/Gripping for constantly extended periods. (for an hour or more)
- Pushing and pulling for extended periods.
- Moderate amounts of stooping.
- Moderate amounts of crouching.
- Occasional kneeling
- Ability to work long and/or irregular hours
- Ability to move a maximum of a 290‐pound patient in a 2‐person or a 3‐person transfer.
- Reach forward up to 18 inches while holding an object weighing 15 pounds.
- Push ultrasound equipment on wheels weighing up to 300 pounds or more.
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| Sensory (Vision, Smell, and Hearing) |
Visual, auditory, olfactory, and tactile senses must be sufficient enough to provide patient care, monitor and assess health needs, and to maintain a safe environment. |
- Skillfully use precision instruments such as microscopes, oscilloscopes, gauges, control panels, and other electronic digital equipment.
- Observe and evaluate (i.e. patient’s body habitus, transducer selection).
- Observe the results of technical factors (i.e. image critique).
- Observe the results of certain stimuli (i.e. medication reaction).
- Observe changes in equipment operation (i.e. see loss of quality of equipment).
- Visually monitor patients and review and interpret images in low light levels.
- Visual acuity to visualize and resolve between structures that are closely spaced.
- Ability to visualize colors and determine colors as displayed on equipment as well as in relation to the patient’s condition.
- Ability to adequately differentiate between subtle shades of black, white, gray and color.
- Ability to hear spoken voices from patients at a conversational tone and level.
- Ability to hear warning beeps on patient’s equipment (i.e. IV alarms, heart monitor and oxygen saturation monitors).
- Ability to hear Doppler shifts on Spectral Doppler exams.
- Ability to assess patient and other situations rapidly, determine course of action, delegate activities to co‐workers, and/or respond as appropriate.
- Recognize and respond to an emergency or urgent situation.
|
| Technological |
The ability and skills to utilize current electronic, digital, and medical technologies. |
- Retrieve and enter patient data into electronic medical records.
- Store and retrieve digital sonographic images from scanners and network devices (PACS).
- Transfer exams from scanners to network devices.
- Transfer exams to external storage media.
- Print exams on various types of printers (laser, thermal, inkjet).
- Utilizing keyboards and touch screens to enter data and optimize images.
- Utilizing knobs, toggle switches, and buttons to optimally perform an ultrasound scan.
|
| Communication |
Communication abilities sufficient for effective and sensitive interaction with faculty, students, physicians, patients, etc. in verbal and written form. |
- Elicit information and cooperation (i.e. questioning of patient, giving breathing instructions).
- Describe changes in mood, activity, and posture.
- Perceive nonverbal communication (i.e. pain, lack of understanding).
- Communicate in a clear and concise manner to people in various departments in both written and spoken English.
- Understand spoken and written English in the clinical and classroom settings.
- Speech discrimination within functional limits for telephone and personal communication.
- Read and apply appropriate instructions in treatment charts, notes, and records.
- Ability to work in a noisy environment with many interruptions.
- Ability to accurately read and transcribe moderately illegible handwriting.
- Ability to hear, understand, and respond appropriately to comments, questions, and instructions given in person, over the phone, and in writing/print.
|
| Critical Thinking/ Problem Solving |
Abilities required of a candidate include measurement, calculation, reasoning, analysis, and synthesis. Conceptual, integrative, and quantitative abilities are also required.
A candidate must have these abilities to accurately perform sonographic technique to produce quality sonograms. |
- Solve problems (i.e. mathematical computation).
- Comprehend three dimensional and spatial relationships (i.e. anatomical relations).
- Understand the spatial relationship of structures.
- Comprehend and apply clinical instructions given from department personnel.
- Ability to remember and recall a large amount of information.
- Ability to apply critical thinking skills in regard to obtaining adequate clinical history from the patient and correlating that information with exam findings.
- Exercise good judgment.
|
| Interpersonal Skills |
The ability to interact successfully with individuals of all age groups and genders, families, groups, etc. from a variety of social, emotional, cultural and intellectual backgrounds. A candidate must have these abilities to provide empathetic support to patients where quality care is dependent on
a team approach. |
- Ability to develop mature, sensitive and effective relationships with patients, clients, and fellow workers (interpersonal skills).
- Tolerate physically taxing workloads.
- Function effectively under stress.
- Adapt to changing environments (i.e. flexible schedules).
- Display flexibility and ability to function during uncertainty inherent in health care (i.e. emergency conditions).
- Display: Compassion, Empathy, Integrity, Concern for others, Interest and motivation
- Ability to calmly and politely cope in stressful situations, in emergency patient situations, or situations with other staff members.
- Accept constructive and professional criticism
- Maintain confidentiality at all times
- Follow all program, college and clinical site policies
- Expected to adhere to the ARDMS
|
| Environmental Tolerance |
The ability to work in a variety of environments and situations. |
- Demonstrate the emotional stability to function effectively under stress and to adapt to an environment that may change rapidly, without warning, and/or in unpredictable ways.
- Perform Echocardiography scans in various locations such as the Emergency Department, Operating Room, patient rooms, ICU, and pediatrics.
- Work safely with toxic substances used to disinfect transducers and equipment.
- Practice universal precautions when working with patients with communicable diseases.
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