How to give a blood transfusion
Other platforms explain it with text and video. In Making Synapses you practice it on the patient.
Most fatal transfusion errors are identification errors. The bedside check is the most important step.
Step by step
Before
Order, consent, type and crossmatch, IV of 20 G or larger with normal saline only. [1]
Two-person check
At the bedside: patient identifiers, blood type, unit number, expiry, against the wristband and order. [2]
Baseline vital signs
Temperature, pulse, breathing, blood pressure, saturation. [1]
Start slowly
Stay with the patient for the first 15 minutes, then recheck vital signs. [1]
Finish in time
Each unit within 4 hours of leaving the bank. [1]
If a reaction
Fever, chills, hives, back pain, breathlessness or low blood pressure: stop, keep the vein open with new saline tubing, call, send the bag back. [1]
Common errors
- One-person check.
- Dextrose in the line.
- Leaving in the first 15 minutes.
Practice it in Making Synapses
In Making Synapses you do this on the patient, not on paper: every step goes on the checklist with a score, and in Teach mode Blocky tells you what comes next.
Making Synapses cases that train this skill
- Postpartum hemorrhage
- Transfusion reaction
- Colorectal cancer
- Autoimmune hemolytic anemia
- Iron deficiency anemia
- Thalassemia
15 Making Synapses cases train this skill: open the case library
Sources
- Open RN, Nursing Skills 2e (Chippewa Valley Technical College) (CC BY 4.0)
- The Joint Commission, National Patient Safety Goals
- OpenStax, Clinical Nursing Skills (reference)
Steps adapted from Open RN, Nursing Skills 2e (Chippewa Valley Technical College), licensed under CC BY 4.0. Facts and steps also follow OpenStax, Clinical Nursing Skills (reference). Making Synapses is not affiliated with these organizations. Updated: 2026-10-11.