Emma Stalker - Better Blood Transfusion - Competencies, Expectations and Resources

Qualifying in 1990 as a Registered General Nurse, Emma has gained a range of experience working within Nurse recruitment and education in both the NHS and the private sector.

Emma joined the National Blood Service in 2005 and in her role as Transfusion Liaison Nurse she is supporting clinical colleagues to implement the iniatives within the Health Service Circular 2007/001: Better Blood Transfusion – Appropriate Use of Blood.

Emma is the elected Secretary of both the South East Coast Regional Transfusion Committee (RTC), and the South Coast Transfusion Paractitioner’s Group, and is actively involved in the proactive blood safety projects that the are currently being driven forward in the region.

Session Abstract

Since the inception and implementation of ‘Better Blood Transfusion’, a Health Service Circular first published in 1998 and revised in 2002 and 2007, the focus of the UK Blood Services has been to support clinical colleagues to effectively and competently manage the use of blood and blood products and to help raise awareness of the alternatives to transfusion.

The implementation of national guidelines and recommendations and the introduction of European legislation has had a major impact on the management of the available blood supply and on how we train all staff involved in the transfusion process to use blood and blood products appropriately, safely and competently in day to day practice.

Blood is safer now than it has ever been, but as a consequence it is an expensive and limited resource, and its use is coming under tighter and tighter training and legislative requirements and controls.

This presentation discusses the multiple factors that contribute to the day to day management and appropriate use of blood within the surgical environment, and highlights the potential impact of a national blood shortage.

Illustrated by the rationale, experiences and tools available to all practitioners, this presentation describes the need, within the transfusion process, for education and communication with all those who are employed in the care of the surgical patient from pre admission to discharge.