【Ohio, USA】Imaging Nursing: A Hidden Gem

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Editor’s Note

Radiology nursing is a dynamic and often overlooked specialty at the forefront of modern healthcare. This article explores the critical role these nurses play in diagnostic and therapeutic settings and highlights the growing opportunities within this innovative field.

Consider this rapidly changing, cutting-edge specialty

Of the more than 100 nursing specialties in healthcare, radiology is one of the newest and most rapidly evolving. Despite the growing demand for skilled imaging nurses, however, radiology remains a little-known nursing specialty whose many advantages warrant a closer look.

Imaging nurses provide holistic, high-quality care in diagnostic and therapeutic environments in nearly every Cleveland Clinic location across the globe. In Northeast Ohio alone, the health system employs more than 300 of these caregivers in inpatient and outpatient settings.

Radiology nurses – who work with a wide range of imaging modalities like x-rays, fluoroscopy, nuclear medicine, ultrasound, mammography, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) – manage a variety of patients, including those undergoing routine diagnostic tests, complex interventional procedures and emergency imaging.

“Radiology nursing is cutting-edge and fast-paced because it’s driven by advances in imaging techniques and technology,” says Beth Welch, DNP, MSN, NE-BC, Director of Imaging Nursing at Cleveland Clinic. “There are so many different facets of imaging. It’s a niche specialty that allows you to work with a variety of modalities, and each one is unique.”

According to Welch, it’s not uncommon for Cleveland Clinic nurses to travel between modalities to ensure continuity of care throughout a patient’s treatment cycle.

“Our practice is highly standardized, so our imaging nurses collaborate closely across the enterprise,” she explains. “From workflow to documentation to safety checks, our caregivers understand the procedures and know what to look for.”

Radiology nurses at Cleveland Clinic are cross trained for different patient populations and other clinical areas like recovery and pre-op.

“Knowing what patients did before receiving an imaging service and what they’ll need after enhances continuity of practice,” Welch adds.
More than meets the eye

Through their partnerships with radiologists and technologists, imaging nurses contribute specialized knowledge and skills to the healthcare team. They enhance care quality and ensure that imaging procedures are carried out safely and effectively.

“Imaging nurses need solid understanding and confidence in their nursing practice,” Welch shares. “We create workflows, ask questions, raise concerns, and stop the line if needed. Our focus is always on the patient.”

Welch says this intent focus begins before the nurse ever encounters the patient.

“We prepare extensively with our radiologist and technologist colleagues as a collaborative team, discussing expectations, course of treatment, care management and more,” she explains. “By the time we meet patients, it feels like we already know them.”

The primary responsibilities of radiology nurses are to educate and prepare patients and families for the imaging they’re about to undergo, manage and monitor patients during procedures, and provide education and care post-procedure. As with any nursing specialty, empathy and compassion fuel their meaningful work.

“It’s important to be conscious of each patient’s mental state and the anxiety they’ve likely had leading up to testing,” Welch shares. “The results of those images really do determine their future. To be able to provide stress relief, compassion and empathy is a gift — and it makes all the difference for the patient and their family.”

Although most diagnostic imaging procedures are brief, some patients require ongoing tests, including those with liver disease and disorders that require tube changes every few weeks.

“Many specialty patients within interventional radiology are assigned care coordinators who provide a consistent point of contact throughout the patient’s journey and keep them connected with their interventionalist,” Welch explains.
Cutting-edge technology

One of the biggest draws to imaging nursing is the ongoing advancement of treatments and diagnostic tests, she adds.

“It’s awesome to be part of a field that is changing so rapidly,” says Welch. “Patients used to just come in for an isolated diagnostic test, but now those images are used to help guide therapies that are actually provided in the radiology department.”
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⏰ Published on: March 05, 2025