At our large tertiary care institution, we don't usually run blood on pumps
unless there are issues regarding flow (such as trying to run blood through a
PICC), or fluid status problems, such as CHF patients. The heart center runs
all blood on a pump to prevent accidental rapid transfusion and prevent fluid
overload.
Sandy Schwaner RN
Angio/Interventional Radiology
University of Virginia
Charlottesville
________________________________
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Lynn Hadaway
Sent: Fri 1/6/2006 5:54 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: Evidence Based Blood Transfusion
I have never seen any such articles and believe that the use of a pump is
strictly because there may not be enough nurses checking it frequently enough
to ensure that the whole unit infuses within the 4 hour limit. Blood is a cold,
viscous fluid and the infusion rate will frequently slow down once set. So it
does require very frequent monitoring to make sure that it is all infused with
4 hours. The portion remaining in the bag must be destroyed after 4 hours at
room temperature. So is this for the convenience of the nursing staff or is the
nursing staff stretched so thin that a pump really is required? Depends on your
staffing situation. Lynn
At 8:05 AM -0500 1/6/06, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
I am apart of a Hospital Risk Assessment Team that is looking at the
process of our Blood Transfusions.
Specifically, I am looking for evidence based research why blood should
be infused on a pump vs. gravity hung.
Does anyone know of some articles I could reference?
Lorelle
--
Lynn Hadaway, M.Ed., RNC, CRNI
Lynn Hadaway Associates, Inc.
126 Main Street, PO Box 10
Milner, GA 30257
http://www.hadawayassociates.com
office 770-358-7861
