For those of you using an FDA approved electronic blood administration positive patient identification device, does your device serve as the witness for a transfusion or do you still require two individuals to sign prior to blood administration?

 

Also, I would love to hear any lessons learned either pre or post implementation.

We still require 2 nurses to identify the patient, witness the scanning of identifiers, and witness and countersign that the nurse/patient checklist is completed.  However,  I have noticed that some of them can be a little lax in this process and tend to rely more on the electronic checks than they should. 

  We also require 2 nurses since if the electronic system is down ,they need 2 signatures on the manual form for it to be completed.  Our system will allow for only 1 nurse check but I said no to that.The second nurse must scan her identification number, not just type a number in the device.

We are planning to implement soon but are planning to keep the process the same with 2 nurses.

We still have two nurses doing check, both nurses enter their pin numbers for signature.

 

The concept of one nurse verification for blood using the electronic system was discussed at our nursing practice council and there was concern of having two different requirements for the same procedure in multiple areas of the hospital (some areas in our institution don't use the electronic transfusion system) and in the event of a downtime. They liked the idea of being consistent. We (transfusion service) weren't going to offer this as an option for several years anyhow.