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Frequency of vital signs


Kim D

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As I recall the taking of vitals as it relates to transfusion was determined by the local (state) nursing guidelines. Consequently, as the Transfusion Service Supervisor I had very little input in these types of decisions.  I imagine they received information from national level nurse organizations.  

I believe that our protocol was just prior to the start, 15 minutes into the transfusion and then hourly until completed.  Our biggest issue was where it was documented.  Originally we had a place on the "bag tag" for documentation but then the nurses began complaining that they were documenting the same info in multiple places so we dropped it from the bag tag.  Actually it made my job easier and made the bag tag much more user friendly.  

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We used to do pre-transfusion, 15 minutes, every hour, at end, and one hour post transfusion.  Then the lab was inspected and the Blood Bank was cited because the nurses were not documenting close enough to the specified times.  They noted one hour vitals at 45 and 75 minutes on a transfusion and said that was not acceptable for one hour.   It got too complicated with so many vitals to specify a tight time frame for one hour.  We researched and dropped the every hour and one hour post transfusion and added checking the vitals documentation as a QA monitor.  Whatever you do, just make sure the times are specific and being followed.

 

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