Which of the following is not an acceptable way to decrease operator exposure during fluoroscopy?

The correct choice reflects an action that does not effectively minimize operator exposure during fluoroscopy. Keeping the patient-fluoroscreen distance to a maximum may seem intuitively beneficial, but this option could be misleading in terms of its practical implications.

In fluoroscopy, operator exposure can be reduced by optimizing various parameters, such as utilizing the lowest milliampere (mA) settings while maximizing kilovolt peak (kVp) settings to achieve the best image quality with minimal exposure. Additionally, restricting the duration the x-ray beam is active (often referred to as "beam-on time") is crucial in reducing overall exposure, as is limiting the size of the x-ray beam to the area of interest.

While maintaining distance is a standard radiation protection principle, the specific wording here implies a misunderstanding of how distance typically influences exposure in a fluoroscopy context, as keeping the fluoroscope too far from the patient could lead to suboptimal imaging and consequently longer exposure times to achieve necessary image quality. Hence, the approach outlined in the correct answer does not align with established protocols to effectively reduce operator exposure.