Training needed for staff in blood banks: Study

The study that analysed the knowledge, attitude, and practice followed by nurses and lab technicians in blood banks revealed that correct blood bank practices were followed by only 47 per cent nurses and 53 per cent technicians.

In the wake of medical negligence case of accidentally administering a pregnant woman with HIV positive blood at the Sattur Government Hospital, the study highlights the poor score of healthcare workers in blood bank practices related to surveillance procedures or Haemovigilance.

Haemovigilance is a set of surveillance procedures covering the whole transfusion chain from the collection of blood and its components to the follow-up of its recipients, which keeps a check on unexpected or undesirable effects resulting from the blood transfusion process and to prevent their occurrence and recurrence. According to the survey, only 50 per cent of medical staff said they had adequate staff working in their blood banks, 75 per cent of them said they were aware of their job functions. While 67 per cent of the nurses felt they had adequate equipment in their blood bank, 52 per cent of laboratory technicians felt the same. However, more than 81 per cent of nurses and 60 per cent of technicians prefer to work in wards and other laboratories respectively than blood banks due to lack of training and work pressure.

It is despite the state government conducting training programmes for blood bank counsellors in the city and the study advocates conducting training programmes to improve the knowledge and practice among the nurses and technicians.

As part of the study, a training programme was conducted for five days for technicians and three days for nurses with theory sessions followed by hands on practical classes regarding the daily activities in blood bank. A post evaluation questionnaire after conducting the training programme revealed that the percentage score on following correct blood bank practices increased to 66.8 per cent and 77 per cent after the training programme.

The author of the study Raj Bharath Rudrappan said that regular and standardised training can lead to improvements in the knowledge, skills, and practice of nurses and paramedics who provide blood transfusion services. “The constraints faced by the nurses and paramedical personnel needs to be addressed for the overall betterment of blood transfusion services. The increase in the knowledge subsequently contributed to a better practice in the technicians,” added Dr Rudrappan.

The concept of Haemovigilance and error reporting has to be stressed on the nurses and paramedics to improve the practices to prevent incidents like Sattur transfusion.