Administrative

Schmitz said that it’s very important that the administration is providing ergonomic assessment and ensure that there is training available. The shifts that radiologists work need to be considered, because many work long shifts and/or night shifts.

“The leadership needs to give permission to people to do the things that they know are going to be beneficial for themselves,” said Schmitz.

Having the ability to choose tasks and make changes to the workstation plays a big part in how well the radiologists handle stress and perform with regard to job productivity. “The more adjustable the equipment, the better off you’re going to be from that point of view,” said Schmitz.

There is also an element of isolation in reading rooms and a sense that the radiologists aren’t a part of the larger community. Schmitz said that communication with radiologists in reading rooms needs to be something that should be checked into.

Work practices

It is recommended that radiologists change their visual/focal distance several times over the course of a day. A leading ergonomist in the field of vision recommends that they look 20 feet away every 20 minutes for 20 seconds.

“The reason this is important is because if we don’t change that focal distance periodically, the muscles that are required to do that basically atrophy,” said Schmitz.

It’s also important for radiologists to “breath, blink and break,” which are three things that they typically don’t do when they are very focused on the computer screen. They tend to hold their breath, which leads to less oxygen to their brain, blink less, which causes their eyes to get itchy and dry and can lead to blurriness.

Mini breaks throughout the day are needed because if they don’t take the time to refresh, the information being brought into their short-term memory doesn’t have the chance to move into their long-term memory. Schmitz said that will cheat them out of some cognitive performance.

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