Abstract:
Blood transfusion saves lives but can result in poor client outcome when it is associated with errors. This study aimed at examining the knowledge of blood transfusion and practice errors among nurses in the Cape
Coast Teaching Hospital. The study utilized a descriptive cross-sectional design approach using 140 registered nurses who were selected purposively. A modified Routine Blood Transfusion Knowledge Questionnaire (RBTKQ) was used to collect information in two sections. First part on demographic data and
second part on knowledge and practice errors which were structured along a three-point Likert scale. Data was analysed with SPSS version 20, the binary logistic regression analysis was employed and all inferences were drawn at 5% significance level. Results showed that nurses have higher knowledge in the
four phases of blood transfusion practices as they scored overall averages of 2.79, 2.80, 2.64 and 2.83 out of 3.0 for Phases I, II, III and IV, respectively. Although, majority of the nurses (72.0%) acknowledged they have not received any official training on blood transfusion since commencement of clinical work. A z-value of 165.29 and p<.05 indicated that there was a significant difference in the knowledge level of the nurses on the four phases of the procedure. On commonest errors, 40 (28.6%) nurses reported that they sometimes forgot to check vital signs throughout the transfusion process. This study concludes that nurses have very good knowledge on blood transfusion process but some practice errors exist that put patients at risk. Periodic training and auditing of the transfusion process is therefore recommended
