Assessment the knowledge of blood transfusion in Iranian nurses of Tehran's hospitals.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the knowledge of nurses about pre and post blood transfusion processes. BACKGROUND: To ensure a safe blood transfusion, apart from the role of blood banking to perform safe donation, attention must be paid to equally important but rather neglected factors including nursing practice and knowledge of blood transfusion. METHOD AND MATERIALS: Data was collected using a valid blood transfusion questionnaire consisting of 43 questions. We analysed data using SPSS 22. Percentages and analytical statistics such as Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis were used to report the results. The significant level of p-value was assumed to be <0.05. RESULTS: In this study, 325 nurses participated and their knowledge scores ranged from 24% to 85% (mean 56.16, standard deviation: 5.92) and the majority of nurses lacked knowledge in pre-transfusion activities. The analysis also revealed there was a significant correlation between the knowledge score and academic degree. Out of all nurses, 48% (N = 156) declared that they need further training in haemovigilance. As the minimum and maximum scored questions, it was revealed that only 39 nurses (12%) have enough knowledge to act properly in case of ambiguous orders; on the other hand, 94% (N = 304) have sufficient knowledge of the agents administered with transfusion. A large proportion of the involved nurses are unaware of the risk of improper identification. CONCLUSION: All the efforts taken to prepare a safe and matched blood unit would be futile by inattentive administration of blood. That is why mandatory ongoing blood transfusion training for nurses is required urgently.

ß-Thalassemia in Iran: Things Everyone Needs to Know About This Disease.

Iran, as a country located in the Thalassemia Belt, has made great progress in thalassemia prevention and treatment. The thalassemia prevention program was implemented in 1995 and the country-wide thalassemia treatment network, consisting of 64 medical universities and faculties, is active. The acknowledgment of the status of thalassemia treatment and prevention in Iran can be of significance to researchers of the countries affected with thalassemia. In the present research, the database of the Treatment Deputy Office of the Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education and that of the Hemovigilance Network of the Iranian Blood Transfusion Organization, were used. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package of the Social Sciences, version 23. The findings show 90.13% reduction in the expected cases of new ß-thalassemia (ß-thal) births in 2015. Moreover, out of 18,983 hemoglobinopathy patients, 17,342 are ß-thal major (ß-TM) and ß-thal intermedia (ß-TI) patients covered by 198 medical centers. Out of the total number of blood donations in Iran, 19.17% are allocated to thalassemia treatment. Iran has reached an acceptable level of success in thalassemia prevention and the preparation of safe and adequate blood. Iran's achievements can be adapted to other developing countries, particularly in the Middle East.

Evaluation of the national prevention program in iran, 2007-2009: the accomplishments and challenges with reflections on the path ahead.

ß-Thalassemia major (ß-TM) is an inherited disease and efforts have been made in several countries to reduce the number of affected births. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the Iranian thalassemia prevention program, considered to be an important program in the region. The time period of the present study ranges from 2007-2009, during which new thalassemic births and the relevant causes were evaluated throughout the country. A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted at the Iranian Blood Transfusion Organization (IBTO), Tehran, Iran. A questionnaire was forwarded to all blood centers of the IBTO so as to obtain information about the new cases of thalassemia and the causes of these thalassemic births. Provincial thalassemia societies also received the questionnaires so that screening and prenatal diagnosis (PND) errors would be recorded. The results showed that 755 new thalassemia cases were born during 2007-2009 with the average fall in affected thalassemia births of 80.82%. The main cause of the new births was attributed to unregistered "timeless religious marriages" based on the conventions of the Sunni community which accounted for 43.17% of all new cases mainly having occurred in Sistan & Baluchestan Province. Not using PND was evaluated to be another main cause. Although the prevention program has led to a great reduction in thalassemic births, new measures are required, including research on how to make the program compatible with social and economic conventions and norms of Sistan & Baluchestan Province. The province of Kohgiluyeh Boyer Ahmad also needs to be revisited in terms of the program efficacy.