The global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on clinical radiography practice: A systematic literature review and recommendations for future services planning

Abstract

Introduction Worldwide, reports and experiences indicate that there has been extensive re-organisation within diagnostic imaging and radiotherapy departments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This was necessary due to changes in workload and working practice guidelines that have evolved during the pandemic. This review provides a comprehensive summary of the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on radiography practice, service delivery and workforce wellbeing. Methods A systematic review methodology was adopted to obtain data from primary studies of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods designs from databases (PubMed, Science Direct, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature [CINAHL], and SCOPUS: all 2020 to present). The included articles were subjected to information extraction and results-based convergent synthesis. Results The electronic database search yielded 10,420 articles after removal of duplicates. Of these, 31 articles met the final inclusion criteria with some (n = 8) fully focussed on radiotherapy workforce and service delivery. The pandemic impact on radiography practice is broadly themed around: training, communication, and information dissemination; infrastructure, technology, and clinical workflow; and workforce mental health and well-being. Conclusion Globally, most radiographers received inadequate training for managing COVID-19 patients during the initial acute phase of the pandemic. Additionally, there were significant changes to clinical practice, working patterns and perceived increase in workload due to surges in COVID-19 patients and the consequent strict adherence to new infection protocols. These changes, coupled with fear emanating from the increased risk of the workforce to contracting the infection, contributed to anxiety and workplace-related stress during the pandemic. Implications for practice Local pandemic response strategies must be appropriately developed from standard protocols in readiness for safe clinical practice and well-being management training of practitioners.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on clinical radiography education: Perspective of students and educators from a low resource setting

“…The COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose a serious challenge to educational systems worldwide. [1][2][3] The consequent changes within the educational sector, including the transition to online teaching and learning, and restricted movement as a result of the lockdown has impacted clinical radiography education in low resource settings including Ghana. 12 This has widely affected academic, research, and clinical activities in most health training institutions.…”

“…3,5,15,28 Findings from this study suggested changes in teaching patterns during the pandemic as the regular face-to-face teaching instructions were replaced with online learning, consistent with earlier studies. 1,13,[29][30][31] However most of the respondents, predominantly students, did not find the platform userfriendly. This is because the virtual learning system might not have been part of the traditional face-to-face teaching system before the outbreak.…”

“…The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on clinical radiography practice and education has been enormous globally. [1][2][3] Noteworthy are reports of increased workplace stress among healthcare workers, including radiographers. 1,2,4,5 Interruptions in educational delivery due to the COVID-19 pandemic have been reported elsewhere and are known.…”

“…[1][2][3] Noteworthy are reports of increased workplace stress among healthcare workers, including radiographers. 1,2,4,5 Interruptions in educational delivery due to the COVID-19 pandemic have been reported elsewhere and are known. 2,3,6,7 The pandemic has profoundly altered academic radiography activities in teaching, research, and practical training.…”

An evaluation of the impact of the Coronavirus (COVID 19) pandemic on interventional radiographers' wellbeing

“… 5 Studies of radiographers have identified changes to clinical working patterns, service delivery, personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages and an increase in workplace-related stress amongst practising radiographers. 5 , 6 , 7 Interventional radiographers are a subgroup of frontline highly trained and skilled hospital staff who typically provide imaging to support minimally invasive procedures in highly pressured environments.…”