Question

Patient A is a 55 year old male you are caring for this shift after his surgery. The doctor calls to inform you that they would like to transfuse patient A with 1 unit Packed Red Blood Cells (PRBC). Discuss the steps of this process you would perform to give patient A the ordered blood product.

Answer 1

Before administering PRBC a nurse should follow the below steps.

- Mach the blood product to identify the right bag.

- Check the patient's name and identification number and blood group before administering blood products.

- Take vital signs and record them as pre-infusion vitals.

- Put an 18 gauze IV line.

- Administer pre-medication if ordered

- Stop any other medication like antibiotics and antiviral drugs administration is going on.

.- Prepare PRBC to administer.

During administration of PRBC, a nurse should follow the below steps.

- Educate the patient to inform you about any discomfort during the administration of PRBC.

Starts PRBC at 5 to 6 drops per minute for 15 minutes and observe the signs of any reaction.

- If there is no reaction and vitals are stable after 15 minutes then increase the drop rate to 15 drops per minute to complete the PRBC within 4 hours.

- Monitor vitals signs at 15 minutes interval in the first hour at 30 minutes interval and record it in the infusion chart.

- If you notice any signs of reaction then stop the infusion and contact with the physician.

After administering PRBC a nurse should follow the below steps.

- Check the vital signs and record them on the post-infusion chart.

- Observe any signs of reaction or signs of volume overload.

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