Posted December 14, 20177 yr comment_71874 Does anyone out there have a policy for Jehovah's Witness transfusion protocol? thanks, Simret
December 15, 20177 yr comment_71877 Certainly in the UK, the Jehovah's Witnesses themselves have detailed transfusion protocols on-line, but are always extremely helpful when contacted by telephone. I would give them a try. Another excellent source of information is the book, "All Blood Counts: A manual for blood conservation and patient blood management." by Thomas D, Thompson J, Ridler B eds. Harley, Shrewsbury: tfm Publishing, 2016. ISBN: 978-1-903378-95-3. pp 530 (paperback). This is also a very easy read.
December 15, 20177 yr comment_71880 With the exception of emergencies, the patient must sign a consent form. We have a place to decline blood products.
December 15, 20177 yr comment_71881 Since I work in a pediatric hospital, our patients are minors. We will approach the parents for consent. If they will not, we get a court order and proceed. I'm told the parents usually consent.
December 15, 20177 yr comment_71883 At a previous hospital I worked at we had a policy and they were only accepting Cryo product and nothing else. They would just not sign the consent for blood if they did not want to accept blood products.
December 18, 20177 yr comment_71893 We have found that restrictions on taking blood transfusions varies from patient to patient. Whenever we have a JW patient, we will consult with the patient'e RN and/or physician. A good resource in the US is The Jehovah's Witness Hospital Liaison Committee, https://www.jw.org/en/medical-library/hospital-liaison-committee-hlc-contacts/united-states/ Scott
December 20, 20177 yr comment_71903 We have a consent for refusal, but also has a list of products that they can accept, including RhoGam
December 21, 20177 yr Author comment_71918 Thank you all for your insights! I will read the book you suggested and some of the web sites you suggested as well and review our policy. thanks
August 22, 20204 yr comment_80852 Jumping in years later. Has anyone heard of the Blood Bank being responsible for keeping the Refusal form and documenting refusal in the EMR or Blood Bank Record? As a patient who refuses, it is my believe that there should not be an electronic Blood Bank record on said patient.
August 23, 20204 yr comment_80875 On 08/21/2020 at 8:50 PM, bldbnkr said: Jumping in years later. Has anyone heard of the Blood Bank being responsible for keeping the Refusal form and documenting refusal in the EMR or Blood Bank Record? As a patient who refuses, it is my believe that there should not be an electronic Blood Bank record on said patient. It definitely should be a part of the medical record, electronic or otherwise. No need for BB to keep the document - medical record. I'd put a note on the patient record card/BBIS for future reference.
August 26, 20204 yr comment_80896 I do as David does - a note to indicate that the patient is a Jehovah's Witness. If the patient has accepted plasma but not red cells, I will also note that. Saves them a bill for an unwanted crossmatch sometimes if I can notify the provider that he/she should discuss transfusion with the patient before we perform testing to set up red cells for them. (And yes, I think that providers should discuss transfusion with their patients, ideally before ordering the products, but we know that the real world doesn't always work that way.)
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