Standards and Requirements

Certain essential functions for Nuclear Medicine Technologists must be met by all applicants and students.

Candidates for the BSRS NMT degree must have the use of certain sensory and motor functions to carry out activities required. They must be able to consistently, quickly, and accurately integrate all information received by all senses, and have the intellectual ability to learn, integrate, analyze, and synthesize data.

Because the BSRS degree in Nuclear Medicine Technology signifies the holder is a graduate NMT prepared for entry into practice and eligible to sit for national credentialing examinations, it follows that graduates must have the knowledge and skills to function in a broad variety of clinical situations and to render a wide spectrum of patient care.

Physical/Sensory Functions

  • Move portable imaging equipment and patients for at least 50 feet, lift 25 pounds from the ground to waist level and extend that weight out from the body at a minimum of 12 inches, and stand/walk for a minimum of 8 hours
  • Perform venipuncture, urethral catherization, external chest compression, and ventilation procedures
  • Use medical imaging equipment (with and without gloves) maintaining a safe environment for patients and others
  • Manipulate laboratory equipment (with and without gloves), including but not limited to syringes, pipettes, vials, test tubes, injection supplies, tongs, and delicate electronic equipment
  • Support, transfer, move, and manipulate patients up to 400 pounds with assistance
  • Attend to tasks/functions for more than 60 minutes at a time, 8 hours a day or for a designated work shift
  • Implement emergent patient care
  • Sufficient motor function to execute movements reasonably required to perform a physical examination and to provide general patient care and emergency treatment
  • Move independently about the nuclear medicine department, hospital, clinical facility, and/or patient rooms (including possibly range of motion)
  • See to visually ensure safety of self and others in clinical settings
  • Hear to ensure safety of self and others in clinical settings
  • Visually discriminate between black, white, gray scale, and/or color scale
  • Read and interpret charts, graphs, instrument panels, and printouts
  • Use computers effectively
  • Communicate with others in close proximity (15 feet) and remote areas (30 feet)

Cognitive/Psychosocial Functions

  • Perform quantitative and integrative intellectual conceptualization including measurement, calculation, reasoning, analysis, and synthesis
  • Demonstrate cognitive knowledge, technical skills, and appropriate attitudes in a patient-orientated environment
  • Evaluate and apply information in a changing environment
  • Correlate results of commonly used diagnostic studies
  • Communicate with patients, physicians, supervisors, and coworkers, including translators when appropriate
  • Work effectively with others as a member of a health care team
  • Follow written and oral instructions from physicians, supervisors, and coworkers
  • Accept direction and supervision and work in cooperation with coworkers
  • React calmly and effectively in stressful environments
  • Comprehend and uphold ethical standards as defined by the profession
  • Comprehend three-dimensional relationships and understand the spatial relationships of structures

Technological accommodation is available to assist with a variety of disabilities and may be permitted for disabilities in certain areas. Under all circumstances, a candidate should be able to perform in a reasonably independent manner. The use of a trained intermediary means that a candidate's judgment must be mediated by another's power of selection and observation. Therefore, the use of an intermediary in the clinical setting is not permitted.