4 CARE OF PATIENT IN DIAGNOSTIC RADIOGRAPHY

longer the master of himself but has been placed in the charge of other
people. When he hears his name being used he feels re-established as a

significant entity.
The indiscriminate use by radiographers of such forms of address as
'Dad' or 'Dear' may be well intentioned, but it seems to imply a certain
condescension as if the
radiographer were on a higher plane and descend
ing to a casual familiarity. It conveys also a suggestion of indifference as
if the
radiographer could not be troubled to remember the patient's name.
The use of the surname only is inexcusably impolite, and it should never
be so employed.
It would be foolish of any radiographer not to realize that the work
involves encounter with aspects of patients that are displeasing or actively
distressing, and we must all of us be prepared for this. Our distaste may
be a physical reaction to a physical stimulus. For example, disease processes
may give rise to disturbing sights and unpleasant smells which the un
fortunate patients must carry with them when they come to our departments.
We have frequently to concern ourselves with functions of the body that
do not seem particularly attractive. We shall often meet patients who seem
to us to have arrived in their several situations through failure to live
knowledgeably according to the best principles; our X-ray films will
show such sorry results as broken jaws after tavern brawls and pregnancy
in the unmarried.
Recognizing that we shall encounter this aspect of our work, we must
recognize also the necessity that we shall control our reaction towards it.
No radiographer should reveal to the patient any sign of distaste or dismay
whatever may occur, nor the least suggestion of moral censure for what
may already have occurred. We must always present to our patients a
manner that is friendly yet impersonal, and convey to them a confidence
in our ability to take control of the situation and care for them while
they are with us.
To a newcomer to the department this may sound an exacting thing to
do, especially when there are features of the patient which the average
person will find disturbing. Of course work with sick people is exacting,
but it is by no means as difficult as might be thought to present to the
patient a manner unchanged by accompanying circumstances. To help
us we have the uses of training and custom. We have a job to do for this
patient, and while we are tlurLking of this job and concentrating upon it
and the patient, there seems no opportunity to let range our personal
reactions.
It of
is,

course, true that patients in many different ways can test the