BACKGROUND: Blood transfusion service is an important part of our healthcare system whoseaim is to provide safe, effective blood components for the patient’s requirement. The ...
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BACKGROUND: Blood transfusion service is an important part of our healthcare system whoseaim is to provide safe, effective blood components for the patient’s requirement. The laboratorytechnicians and nurses working in the blood bank form the core for the effective functioning of bloodbank. The study was to analyze the knowledge, attitude, and practice of nurses and paramedics suchas laboratory technicians working in blood banks and whether intervention of a training program hadany benefit to the participants.MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was conducted in our department which is a regionaltraining center approved by the National AIDS Control Organization for training medical officers,laboratory technicians, and staff nurses working in blood banks. There were a total number of 48government run hospital blood banks who participated in the study and we conducted six trainingprograms for 43 nurses and 64 laboratory technicians working in blood banks from the southernstates of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry in India. The training program was for 5 days for techniciansand 3 days for nurses with theory sessions followed by hands on practical classes regarding thedaily activities in blood bank. They were given a pre‑evaluation questionnaire to test their knowledge,attitude, and practice followed by a post evaluation questionnaire after conducting the trainingprogram.RESULTS: The mean percentage score in the pre evaluation test before the training programfor nurses and technicians was 47% and 53% while after the training program; the meanpercentage was 66.8% and 77% which was statistically significant in both the groups. Thecorrect blood bank practices followed by nurses and laboratory technicians overall were 67% and75%, respectively. The technicians and nurses scored poorly in blood bank practices related tohemovigilance.DISCUSSIONS: Regular and standardized training can lead to improvements in the knowledge,skills, and practice of nurses and paramedics who provide blood transfusion services. The constraintsfaced by the nurses and paramedical personnel needs to be addressed for the overall bettermentof blood transfusion services.CONCLUSIONS: The increase in the knowledge subsequently contributed to a better practice in thetechnicians. The concept of haemovigilance and error reporting has to be stressed on the nursesand paramedics to improve their good practices.
