Blood Transfusion Essay

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fusioAdministering blood transfusion 1 Cherry Buckwell, CETL Interprofessional Clinical Skills Facilitator Is it safe? Approximately 3.34 million blood products are transfused each year in the UK. Blood transfusions save lives and improve the quality of life in a large number of conditions. However, data collected by SHOT (serious hazards of transfusion) scheme indicates that blood transfusion recipients are exposed to avoidable risks. Some of which can result in serious morbidity and death. SHOT (2004) reported that of the main bulk of errors, 80%, can be put down to human error. And 42% of those errors occur when collecting and checking blood at the bedside. Safe but not without risk Following the 2004 SHOT report, the RCN (2005) produced Right blood, Right patient Right Time, a set of guidelines for improving transfusion practice. More recently the United Kingdom Blood Service has produced national guidelines in Handbook of Transfusion Medicine (2007). National guidelines such as these inform local policy, which may vary slightly from trust to trust. So it’s important to always refer to your departments policy. The following set of slides will give you an overview of the bedside checking procedure and the care of those undergoing blood transfusion. Bedside checking is the last chance to prevent an error. Learning outcomes • Safe bedside checking • Safe administration of blood • Care of the patient receiving blood • Responding to adverse reactions Allways refer to your hospital policy Preparation Blood should be in transfusion within 15 minutes of leaving the fridge. If the blood is not being transfused within 30 minutes of leaving the fridge the blood transfusion department must be informed and the blood may need to be returned. Therefore it is important to ensure that you are prepared to check and administer the blood as

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