Assessing the awareness level of radiation hazard Protection and safety among radiation oncologists of Tikur anbessa comprehensive specialized hospital and The status of radiation safety practice in their Workplace

Abstract

Hazardous working areas are life costing if we do not follow properly safety rules and regulations of that particular work place. So many studies clearly show that health care professionals who work with the sources of ionizing radiation medical machines are subjected to radiation hazards. Therefore it is very important to assess the awareness level concerning possible radiation hazards and radiation safety procedures of such workers frequently. In line with this idea the researcher tries to examine radiation hazard protection awareness of radiation oncologists of Tikure Anbessa (black lion) comprehensive specialized hospital which is one of the oldest and the largest referral teaching hospital in the country. In order to achieve the intended outcome of the study data was collected both qualitatively and quantitatively using self-administered written questionnaires and observation checklist. A well-structured; both closed-ended and open-ended questionnaires of 36 questions which are grouped under 4 sections were given to the respondents in order to gather the necessary data for the study. A Cross-sectional department based study done by using purposive sampling method and taking all radiation oncologists as a target population. All the quantitative data entered in statistical package for the social science (SSPS) version 23 and analyzed for statistically significant outcomes. A total of 68 respondents out of 81 fill and return the questionnaire. Among this 48 (70.6%) are male and 20 (29.4%) female. According to the findings of the study, most of the radiation oncologists of Tikur Anbessa specialized hospital have a good knowledge and awareness of radiation safety especially in areas where the optimum radiation dose, about time of exposure of radiation, about ICRP principle of as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) dose, about distance from radiation source, about shielding of hazardous radiations and about use of personal dosimeters, and also they recognize the hazardous nature of radiation emitted from radiation medical machines. But most radiation oncologists do not use appropriate radiation safety equipments and didn‟t follow radiation safety procedures properly