Interventional Radiology Nurse: A New Specialty You Should Know About

• An interventional radiology nurse is an extremely skilled professional.
• The demand for this specialized field in nursing continues to grow each year.
• While the pay is great, the road to getting there can be a long one; do you think you have what it takes?

Interventional radiology is quickly expanding into the nursing industry and is a highly sought-after career.  

It takes years of experience, skill, and advanced education, but do you think you have what it takes? 

What is Interventional Radiology?

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine defines interventional radiology as “a medical sub-specialty of radiology utilizing minimally-invasive image-guided procedures to diagnose and treat diseases in nearly every organ system.” 

Although some patients may undergo swift, outpatient procedures, others can be extremely sick or unstable and require more intensive inpatient procedures. 

So, the question is, what does an interventional radiology nurse do? Let’s get into it! 

The Interventional Radiology Nurse

An interventional radiology nurse is a highly specialized, trained, and experienced radiology RN that assists the physician in minimally invasive radiology treatments and diagnostic testing.  

Online nursing job source, MSN.edu, outlines the many roles both a diagnostic and interventional radiology nurse must fulfill, these include: 

• Preparing patients for procedures

(checking and verifying vital signs, meds, NPO status, lab results, and medical history)

• Providing education to the patient and family members

(ensuring the patient and family members understand the procedure and plan of care before signing procedural consent and providing them with discharge planning/instructions)

• Inserting and removing intravenous lines

• Administering conscious sedation drugs and other drugs

• Monitoring patient patterns and vital signs during the procedure

• Overseeing the safety and comfort of patients before, during, and after procedures

• Providing post-procedure monitoring

(observing for signs and symptoms of complications, such as bleeding from the puncture site, pain, and/or changes in mental status or vital signs

How to Become an Interventional Radiology Nurse

The online nursing community, EveryNurse, offers step-by-step guidelines on how to get you one step closer to landing a position as an interventional radiology nurse. 

1. Earn your BSN from an accredited institution. 
2. Pass the NCLEX-RN Examination.  
3. Gain hands-on RN experience (you will need about 2,000 hours of radiology nursing experience alone) 
4. Take the CRN Certification Examination (35% of the exam covers interventional radiology) 
5. Get started! 

To be hired, many employers do not require the CRN exam.  

What’s the Pay Like? 

According to ZipRecruiter, the average interventional radiology nurse makes roughly $108,369 per year; that is a whopping $52 an hour! 

The interventional radiology setting is a fast-paced nursing environment in a rapidly growing field! 

Interventional radiology nurses are an integral part of patient-centered quality care. This unique specialty offers a variety of opportunities to care for many different types of patients and is a wonderful opening to find your niche and advance your career.  

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