Assessment of barriers to reporting the acute complications of blood transfusion from the perspective of nursing staff

Blood transfusion in critical  patients is a lifesaver and at the same time can be fatal due to possible complications. The purpose of this study was to investigate the barriers to reporting the complications of blood transfusion nad the awareness of these complications in nursing staff.

A descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on the Mashhad nursing staff in the selected hospital. A population of 120 nursing staff was included in the study.  Data collection was done by a researcher-made questionnaire including demographic, knowledge and barrier factors after  the confirmation of its validity and reliability. The data were analyzed by SPSS 16.

The mean age was 36 ± 70 years, 56.67% (68) were women, 75.87% (91) had a bachelor's degree and 71.15% (86) were nurses. The legal issues (3.43%), injection of  corticosteroids before blood transfusion (3.36%), high inquiries and time consuming forms (3.34%) were major barriers in reporting adverse reactions. The mean knowledge score regarding the recognition of reactions was 85.04% (good) and regarding the care after reactions was 72.79% (moderate). There was no significant relationship between the barriers of reporting adverse reactions and demographic characteristics.

It is necessary to provide training on the detection of the transfusion reactions and its importance. There is also a need to take steps to encourage staff to report, ensure non-punishment approach to reporting reactions and errors, facilitate reporting, and simplify design of the reporting form to pave the way for reporting reactions of blood transfusions.