Sonographers and advanced practice - where do we go from here?

There appears to be a broad consensus that radiography is in danger of being left behind as other professions advance.  The evidence that extended roles and advanced practice are commonly conflated is building.  As sonographers we have additional problems as we are in the main from radiography backgrounds, but have no direction as an independent profession as we are unregulated.

Our research- Just 9.3% of 205 rep rads correctly articulated difference between extended & advanced practice @PaulineReeves19 @peabodysono https://t.co/mCGTW3ad5H

— Rob Milner (@RobMilner3) August 31, 2017

Excerpt from Milner & Snaith (2017). Accreditation is key. To become accredited requires an understanding of the role(s) @SCoRMembers pic.twitter.com/9HyoQjZPaj

— Rob Milner (@RobMilner3) August 31, 2017

This has come from DoH not SCoR, its across all AHPs. The SCoR wants to move with the times otherwise our profession will be left behind 1/2

— Rob Milner (@RobMilner3) August 31, 2017

As artificial intelligence in medicine becomes more sophisticated things will change and sonographers may need to countenance the unthinkable which is that much of the work is ripe for pattern recognition image interpretation.  

I am playing devil’s advocate here but we need to consider a future where those who have the drive and the ability to progress to Advanced Practice will lead and those who do not will screen with the aid of software which is being developed by many manufacturers.  The technology is developing fast - today it is possible to purchase software to provide quality analytics which audit the completeness and quality of stored images, a potentially useful tool when it is difficult to spare sonographers from scanning to carry out regular image audit and in a time when litigation places increasing strain on the NHS budget.

The urgent question to be answered now is how do we use the evidence to shape the profession?  And how do we do that as work loads increase and staffing levels fall?  Our demographic time bomb is ticking - in 2014 the Society of Radiographers Sonographer Workforce Survey found that 66% of sonographers were over the age of 41 and 33% over the age of 50.  There are not enough trainees in the system to meet the current demand let alone the inevitable future increases.

Change is inevitable and it is best to be actively involved in making changes or it will be imposed on us.  If sonographers influence the development of sonography we may be able to build a profession in which career development and a growth mindset  will benefit patients and staff alike.  

Grounded theory and a new cake. (Back to the kitchen)

Getting my head around grounded theory is not straightforward and I find I need a little something to help me concentrate.  The Pomodoro Technique of time management allows me a half hour break after four 25 minute work periods.  Just long enough to make cake. 



Pomodoro (really not procrastinating...) crumble cake

cake
180 grams butter
180 grams caster sugar
2 eggs
115 grams plain flour
150 grams ground almonds
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 tablespoons of milk

crumble
100g cold butter
100g demerara sugar
100g plain flour
a sprinkling of nuts (almond flakes for the raspberry and chopped salted peanuts for the peanut butter and chocolate)

a couple of handfuls of something nice to go under the crumble layer - todays cakes are raspberry and peanut butter with chopped chocolate.

cake Beat butter and sugar until light, add eggs, beat and then add flour, almonds, vanilla and milk.
crumble pulse ingredients in food processor until rubble like in texture. Divide into two bowls and add almonds and peanuts.

Line two two pound loaf tins and divide the cake mix between them, layer on the something nice and top with crumble.  Bake in 180 degree oven for 50 minutes to one hour.

Cool and eat with gallons of tea.

Procrastination and dissertation

After completing my PGDip in the 90s I realised that I did not have anything to say in a dissertation.  The day the 5 year point passed and there was no way of progressing to MSc was a relief.  The following years I moved house repeatedly (following the husband) had children and kept what I had once called my career going as best I could. 

Emerging from the fog of the early years of mothering and with a little more stability on the home front I turned my attention to work again.  I was startled to find that ultrasound seemed to have stalled as a discipline, overtaken (not that it is a competition) by other sub specialities in radiography.  I wondered why.  I took on work outside my department, training and organising study days and getting involved with the Society of Radiographers.  I learned that there were departments where sonographers were leading services, extending and advancing their practice in ways which benefited their patients and brought professional satisfaction to themselves.  Unfortunately these departments appeared to me to be in the minority.  I wondered why and then realised that all these years after not doing my dissertation, I suddenly had not just something to say but a lot to say. 

What to do with it all?  Bore my colleagues and family to tears? Did that. 
What next? 
Do the MSc!

So now here I am, after the best part of two decades, doing the MSc.  And do I just settle down and  write? 

No.
Procrastination rules.
I have baked a lot of bread.
Made many English Muffins.
And rediscovered sock knitting.  And woken up this blog. 

I may just write the dissertation in between all these very attractive alternatives, just give me a minute while I clean the bathroom...