(P-TS-124) The Impact of Targeted, In-depth Team Huddle Training on Nurses' Compliance with Blood Administration Protocols

Background/Case Studies: As a high-risk procedure, blood transfusions require strict protocols and skilled nurses to ensure patient safety. Current nurse training methods like online modules and annual assessments lack practical reinforcement, potentially compromising compliance and patient safety. This study evaluated whether targeted team huddle training improves nurses’ compliance to blood transfusion protocols.

Study

Design/Methods: A pre-post intervention study was conducted at a 208-bed hospital in Killeen, Texas, to assess compliance with RBC transfusion documentation. The intervention, implemented in February 2025, consisted of a 10-minute verbal discussion of transfusion procedures by laboratory staff during unit huddles, supplemented by printed handouts. Compliance data were retrospectively collected from hospital LIS for all non-emergency, non-surgical RBC transfusions performed between October 1 and December 31, 2024 (pre-intervention), and prospectively from March 1 to May 31, 2025 (post-intervention). The primary outcome was complete documentation of vital signs at key time points. Compliance rates were compared using descriptive statistics and chi-square tests.

Results/Findings: Before the intervention, nurses’ compliance with pre-transfusion vital signs documentation was high, but much lower during intra- and post-transfusion periods, as shown in Table 1. After the huddle intervention, compliance improved at every measured time point. For example, 15 minutes after the intervention, blood pressure compliance increased from 84.9% to 93.7% (p < .001), temperature from 78.2% to 88.3% (p < .001), heart rate from 82.5% to 90.4% (p = .001), and respiratory rate from 82.5% to 91.2% (p < .001). The biggest improvements were seen in hourly checks, with documentation for temperature rising from 18.3% to 46.4% (p < .001) and for blood pressure from 48% to 77.4% (p < .001). Although pre-huddle intervention post-transfusion vital signs documentation was already high, further significant improvement was observed post-huddle intervention (p < .05).

Conclusions: This study demonstrated that implementing targeted team huddle training can significantly improve nurses’ compliance with blood transfusion protocols, particularly in the documentation of vital signs at all required time points. While compliance with pre-transfusion vital signs documentation was already high, the huddle intervention led to substantial and statistically significant improvements in the intra- and post-transfusion checks These results suggested that practical, team-based training methods during huddles were effective in reinforcing protocol adherence and promoting patient safety during high-risk procedures such as blood transfusions.
Study limits include possible staffing or policy changes unknown to the authors, short study duration that may not show long-term effects, and single suburban hospital site limits generalizability to other healthcare settings.