Problems/Issues in Blood Transfusion Process: A Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with Nursing Personnel in a Tertiary Care Center of North India

Abstract

Background

Blood and blood product transfusion is an essential component of the health care system. Nursing personnel constitute a significant aspect of the transfusion process as they are the last in the chain of the transfusion process to ultimately transfuse the blood and blood products to the recipient. Nurses face many problems/issues in this process. The present study highlights the problems/issues faced by them in the transfusion of blood and blood products.

Objective

To explore the problems/issues faced by nursing personnel related to blood and blood products transfusion process in a tertiary care hospital in North India.

Methods

A qualitative design was used. Three focused group discussions were conducted with 8–10 nurses in each group working in the Emergency Neurosurgery Ward of a tertiary care hospital in North India. Tools used were the sociodemographic and job profile of nurses and a focus group discussion (FGD) guide about blood and blood products transfusion. Each FGD session lasted for 15–20 minutes and data saturation was achieved after three FGDs. Colaizzi’s procedural steps were used to analyse the data. Themes and subthemes were generated.

Results and Conclusion

The problems/issues identified in the FGD were related to a lack of awareness regarding awareness, transportation, storage in the ward, thawing of fresh frozen plasma, problems in a blood bag, wastage of blood in case of children, inadequate nurse patients ratio, taking consent, Judicial request, proper prescription/orders, related to transfusion responsibilities, monitoring and documentation of blood, and blood products transfusion. The above problem/issues should be addressed and overcome to promote safe transfusion. It is recommended that regular In-service education programs should be planned for nursing personnel to update guidelines awareness, and the developed transfusion monitoring sheet should be implemented, to improve documentation and reduce transfusion errors.