Knowledge and Awareness of Nursing Students on Blood Transfusion

Introduction: Today, blood transfusion is one of the most important life-saving measures for people, but in case of individual errors, it can lead to many complications and even death. In health-care centers, different people are involved in blood transfusion process and nurses play one of the most important roles in a safe transfusion. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate nurses knowledge about the use and effects of blood products in nursing students of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences in 2017. Methods: In this descriptive study, knowledge and awareness of 153 nursing student were evaluated by a questionnaire consisted personal socio-demographic questions and specific questions about the blood transfusion. SPSS 16 software was used for data analysis. Findings: A total of 153 participants in this study, 53 students (34.6%) were males and 100 of them (65.4%) were females by the mean age of 20.79 (±2.4). Only 33.4% of nursing student answered to general information correctly and in terms of blood usage, transfusion process, and blood transfusion complications, respectively 22.45%, 27.1% and 20.8% of students had good knowledge. Overall, the results of this study showed that only 25.9% of nursing students had good knowledge and awareness about blood transfusion. Conclusion: Results showed that awareness and knowledge of nursing students about blood transfusion is average downward. In addition to the need for comprehensive studies, theoretical and practical courses on blood transfusion medicine in educational curriculum and holding workshops on blood transfusion medicine may help to increase the awareness of nursing students.