Blood transfusion knowledge levels of nurses in İzmir Atatürk training and research Hospital, turkey

Despite their use in life-saving treatment, blood and blood products can cause life-threatening complications. To administer blood transfusion safely, national guidelines and protocols should be consulted in healthcare organizations. In Türkiye, there are guides and regulations published by the Ministry of Health. With the definition of hemovigilance in the regulations; training in clinical use of blood and transfusion practice fields is now mandatory. This study presents data from a survey designed to assess transfusion knowledge levels of clinical departments for the purpose of planning our training programs.

A two-part survey was conducted on 110 nurses from various departments. Questions included sociodemographic attributes, department they worked in, employment duration, knowledge level on transfusion practices. Statistical analysis was performed.

Of the nurses that participated; 52.7% were above 40 years old, 15.5% were 31–40 years old and 31.8% were below 30 years old. For education; 84.5% of the nurses were graduates or postgraduates. For work experience; 64.5% were working in internal medicine departments, 58.2% had been working as a nurse for 10 or more years while 85.5% worked in the same department for less than 5 years. It was determined that the nurses should know more about transfusion.

Beginner nurses in the intense care unit were found to have lower levels of transfusion practice knowledge, from this it was deduced additional training should be scheduled for beginner nurses with low transfusion knowledge. In addition to theoretical instructions, one-on-one training on operation controls and “observation and guidance” style practical training should be implemented. Theoretical and practical topics with inadequate knowledge should be instructed in finer detail to increase the knowledge level in these subjects.