kriti

If anyone is has the Vision and an interface with Meditech and would be willing to share screen shots of the set up in the anaylzer dictionary, I would be most grateful. Thanks!

We have meditech. Our UA is a hematology test. Our urine culture is a micro test. Does anyone have any suggestions about getting the culture to reflex across the different modules? Thanks.

We have client server 5.64 and went live with TAR a week ago. Can anyone explain to me in blood bank language (as opposed to nursing language) what the exact purpose of attaching a CDS to the Transfuse Cus Def Screen tab in the customer defined dictionary? We have a plasmapheresis patient on which the nurses appear to be documenting vitals every 3-5 minutes instead of following their SOP. The abundance of comments is causing the system to crash and rather than discuss the issue with the nurse, nursing wants to attach an assessment that would remove all vital signs from attaching to the blood products. If anyone could attach some print screens with and without the assessment attached, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your help.

I thought it was a regulation that you had to go to the thawed fresh frozen product for the first 24 hours, then at 24 hours and 1 minute you could extend it. Am I mistaken?

I am curious as to how many folks perform the fetaldex or kleihauer betke test, whatever you want to call it, in the Blood Bank as opposed to in hematology.

3rd floor

There is a mold investigation under way and certainly some items have had to be removed and some minor demolition is scheduled to take place in some areas. The micro lab was initially targeted as the source because they grow cultures there. We left out a bunch of culture plates throughout all areas of the lab for our own internal investigation, and the hospital brought in the 3rd party to help identify the potential "mold resovoirs" and to make our lives more interesting. The 3rd party does not make or endorse any particular products.

For our pre-analytic, we measure if they answer the PAT questions correctly (ie, no PAT samples answered as not pregnant for scheduled c-sections), rejected samples collected by pt care areas, rejected samples collected by lab, and TAT for plasma prepared to made ready for ER. For analytic, we measure ER plasma from time of order to transfusion time and wasted/expired products. For post-analytic we measure uncrossmatched/trauma forms being returned and completed with corerct info, transfusion reactions, transfusion reaction completed consults, verbal orders/readbacks and giving units a final dispositon. I hope that is helpful. I am curious to see what others are doing as well.

Does anyone know of any specific issues or have experience with cleaning agents and blood storage devices? A 3rd party company recently evaluated our entire laboratory and has graciously provided all areas with mandatory things that are to be done to prevent "mold resovoirs" including cleaning the interior, exterior and shelves of all blood storage devices with disinfectant wipes "routinely". The interiors are all stainless steel/glass. I am concerned with over-aggressively cleaning the storage units but also want to prevent the "mold resovoir" as well. Aside from the manufacturer's recommendations for cleaning agents, is there anything about the permeability of the blood bags that would necessitate being conservative with the cleansing agents? Thanks.

We were testing this today and the scanners the nurses use could read the ISBT numbers, but not the codabar numbers. That is why some of our barcode scans were not matching up.

Dstoever, has that process ever led to delays in providing the products? Are there any areas or instances where there are exceptions and whatever they order is prepared (ie. trauma, OR)? And the process works well for you? Thanks for your response. kriti

Does anyone use a more proactive approach using an order set which allows the physician to select the reason for the blood usage, etc, and if so, can you share how this is set up and how well the process works? Thanks.

Are personnel involved in transfusion trained in identification of transfusion recipients and blood components, and in observation of recipients during and after transfusion, with inservice education at least annually? I had put together a presentation for nursing, but they think it is too long, so if anyone else has an inservice they would be willing to share, I would be very grateful. Thanks for your time.

Is any institution willing to share what they do to remain compliant with CAP TRM 41025 that is new for this year?

In light of the recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine regarding the age of blood used for cardiac surgery, does anyone currently have SOPs/protocols or thoughts with regard to setting criteria for certain patient populations, or is anyone waiting for additonal studies prior to making a decision?