Determination of the Knowledge Level of Nurses and Midwives Working at A University Hospital About Transfusion of Blood and Blood Products

OBJECTIVES: Blood transfusion is actually a tissue transplant and the possible complications are of vital importance. Thus, the healthcare personnel, who will perform the transfusion, should be trained in this regard. The aim of the present study is to determine the knowledge level of the nurses and midwives working at our hospital, about transfusion. BACKGROUND: Blood transfusion is one of the most common and risky procedures in hospitals. Therefore, complications related to blood transfusion should be known to all nurses and midwives. In this study, we found that the in-service training of the participants about transfusion and education levels is important in terms of determining the adequacy of this training. In addition to the level of education, knowledge and skills about transfusion have an important place. METHODS: A total of 534 healthcare professionals working at the Medical Faculty Hospital of Sivas Cumhuriyet University were included in the study. 514 (96.3%) of them were nurses and 20 (3.7%) were midwives. The questionnaire includes 9 questions about personal information, 9 questions on knowledge about pre-transfusion, 7 questions on the process of blood transfusion, 6 questions on blood and blood products, and 3 questions about the blood transfusion reaction. According to the scores taken in the questionnaire, the participants were divided in two sub-groups as group I (0-85) and group II (86-100). RESULTS: Mean age of the participants was 30.28±7.60 (18-55) years. In the questionnaire, correct answer rate of the participants was 93.28% in questions about nursing responsibilities before transfusion, 95.2% in questions about transfusion process, 94.5% in questions about identifying and managing transfusion reactions, and 71.71% in questions about knowledge levels of blood and blood products. CONCLUSION: Transfusion of blood and blood products is a complex process requiring a specific knowledge level. In general, it can be asserted that the nurses and midwives working at the hospital have good transfusion skills in parallel to their education, previous in-service transfusion training and their transfusion and reaction experiences.