Abstract
•Human factors accounts for most reported errors in the serious hazards of blood transfusion report.•Knowledge of blood transfusion safety among 190 pediatricians were assessed and how much it improves after educational initiative.•Transfusion safety knowledge needs further enhancement with more tailored training programs.
Human factors account for most reported errors in the serious hazards of blood transfusion report, thus staff training on safe blood transfusion is strongly recommended. This study aimed to assess knowledge of blood transfusion safety among pediatricians and determine the impact of an educational initiative. A quasi-experimental study was conducted on 190 pediatricians. A questionnaire was designed and validated through a pilot study after which all participants were invited to fill it pre- and posteducational intervention. The educational material has been prepared based on the WHO blood transfusion safety guidelines; prepared by the researcher and reviewed by experts in the field. Near miss was identified by 47% of the participants and around 78.3%, 63.2%, and 60% of them correctly identified the indication of red blood cells, fresh frozen plasma, and platelet transfusion. These percentages were significantly improved post education. Only 55% knew that it's not allowed to co-administer drugs or IV fluids with the transfused blood and that rose to almost 80% after intervention. Consent information and correct patient identification were well known among most of them. Only 18.4% knew the pre transfusion screening protocol, which was increased to 85.8 % posteducation. Almost 65.3% correctly responded to the transfusion reaction quiz with no significant change after intervention. Age and work experience were significant independent risk factors for poor knowledge of transfusion safety. Transfusion safety knowledge needs further enhancement with more tailored training programs focusing on the topics that did not show a significant change after our educational training.