melvolny

We will be using Epic/Beaker/Soft by Feb. 2020. I would love to be a part of any discussions.

We just switched over to using thawed plasma - 5 day exp. I changed my outdate to 120H - but it expires them at midnight - which brings it past the thaw time by several hours, so technically it is 5 days + some hours expired. Is there a way to make it reflect the time of thaw as expiration and not midnight? Does it matter?? Am I being too literal?? lol thanks for any insight

Which standard or regulation states blood products have to be transfused within 4 hours and started within 30 min.? I've begun the process of going electronic and want to make sure I will have access to the all the information required. I looked in Standards 30th edition. I looked at JC requirements. I couldn't find anything that specifically laid out what was required when reviewing for completion. I know I have read it somewhere, but I sure can't remember where. Thank you in advance for any help with this.

This topic just came up today. The Nursing Council has decided they want the respiration rate documented for each transfusion. I have looked for some reference that states specifically what is to be documented. Everything just says "vitals". My thinking is respiration is a part of vitals, so they should be documented. We have not in the past. We have only done BP, temp and pulse. My concern with this is they (RN's) have trouble completed these forms now, adding this one more piece will equal many more Midas reports for me. I would like some references or articles or something, just for my own knowledge as well as for sharing with the powers that be. Thanks for being there.

Hi all, Just got a phone call today from our local nursing home. She wants us to be their "supplier" so they can do the blood transfusions right there in their facility. This will save the patient a ton of discomfort. This will help reduce the number of non-emergency admissions. My problem is I do not know where to start to do some research for my manager. My manager did mention something about having a different designation because we would technically be a supplier. I didn't see anything in the Standards. So I figure I am just not looking in the right place. Any suggestions on how, or if , we can accomodate them? Anyone have any procedures they wouldn't mind sharing with me? Thanks in advance for any and all ideas. Melissa

Thanks for all your replies! Right after I posted this - my brain did the old "Of course - prozone!" I thought I would titer it in the tube next - just to see what it does. I, too, was very surprised it wasn't a higher titer than that. We'll see what happens as the pregnancy progresses. Thanks again!

We have an OB patient with an anti-E. This morning when I titered it, it gave me some very odd reactions, something I have never seen an antibody do before. The repeat was the same. I performed the titer in gel. The first (raw) tube was weak, the second tube was 1+ and the third tube was a strong 2+, the rest were negative. I repeated it thinking I set up the tubes incorrectly. The repeat was the exact same with tube 4 being weakly positive. The rest were negative. Anybody else ever see anything like this? And what's up with the antibody that would cause this? Thanks in advance for any and all responses. Melissa

Hi all, We have recently moved into our new lab. (Loving the space and the beauty of it!!) Blood bank is now in its own room, free from distractions (YES!). The break room is clear across the lab, very far to walk for that sip of water that is needed during a hectic workday. I wanted to designate a little area around my desk as "clean" but my manager was concerned it was too close to our secondary work station. I have hunted for any guidelines or regulations regarding setting up a clean area but I am not finding anything very specific. Anyone have any ideas where I can look or what I can say to my manager to "persuade" her. Thanks for your ever-valuable input. It's awesome to have this forum to run to when there is an issue. Melissa

Deny, did you do any validation or comparison testing before implementing? Would I have to? Is plastic less costly than glass? Thanks for your insight Melissa

Thank You Malcolm - I knew I could count on you for a reply. Melissa

I've seen alot of information about going to plastic vaccutainer tubes for specimens. But I find nothing about the testing in glass test tubes. Why do we use them? Can we use plastic? Do we want to use plastic? These are questions that have been brought to me. My gut reaction was "we've always used glass tubes" - but I realized that is not the appropriate response. One of our techs cut herself on a glass tube the other day, so now the Risk dept wants to know why we aren't using plastic. We use gel for everything we can, but the tube is our backup right now. Does anyone have any appropriate responses to the above questions? Thanks for being there. Melissa

Good Luck - You will do fine. Just study the Technical Manual and you won't have a problem!

Good Morning, In every transfusion service I have worked in, we have always filled out an emergency release form for the doctor to sign and manually completed transfusion report forms for the documentation of vitals, times, etc. As I am looking at my current emergency release procedure, it does not specify the manual complete of transfusion report forms. So, of course then I started investigating what others do. Standards only states a doctor's signature is required. Others, rely on the flow charts, and some manually complete transfusion report forms. So - I put the question to you folks: what is your practice? it seems unreasonable to make the RN's document the vitals in the patient's chart and then again on our form in an emergency, but then it seems these should be part of the patient's history in the blood bank. Thanks in advance for your thoughts - it's so nice to have somewhere to bounce these questions around. Melissa

donna, Is it too late to get a copy of your checklists? Thanks in advance mvolny@centegra.com

I think that's what threw me - the computer gave it a 24 hour expiration - and I wondered why? why didn't it know to change it? apparently I am expecting way too much! Thank you for affirming my thought process.