Determinants Of Blood Transfusion Knowledge And Practice Among Pediatric Nurses: Impact Of Experience, Academic Qualification, And Training Exposure

Abstract

Objective(s): This study aims to identify the determinants of blood transfusion knowledge and practices among pediatric nurses, and to examine the impact of years of experience, academic qualification, and training exposure on their knowledge and practice levels .Methods: This study used a descriptive design was performed in the intensive care unit, and hematology unit of two hospitals in Baghdad and Baqubah city, Iraq from September May 18th to 25th, October 2025. A non-probability (purposive) sample of 80 nurses was selected. Nurses’ knowledge was assessed using questionnaire format and observational checklist to assess nursing practice. The instrument's validity and reliability were confirmed by experts and interrater agreement. Data were analyzed by questionnaire and direct observational, and it processed using SPSS version 22.0 Results: The study revealed that more than one third of the studied nurses had poor knowledge and more than half of them had incompetent practice. Most of the study sample 82.5% in al-Batoul hospital and 70.0% in Ibn al-Baladi hospital were females. The age group (20-29) takes the highest percentage (67.5%, 52.5% in both hospitals), In addition, about (50.0%) are diploma and bachelor degree in both hospitals of the academic qualification, (42.5%) of the nurses who works in blood transfusion units have 1-5 years of experience in al-Batoul hospital and Ibn al-Baladi hospital (55.0%) of the nurses have 6-10 years of experience, and (45.0%, 57.5% in both hospital) of the nurses participated in blood transfusion training. No significant statistical associations were found between nurse’s knowledge and practice from one hand and years' experience, academic qualification, and training exposure on the other hands p ≤ 0.05. Conclusions: Training exposure and years of experience, academic qualification were the no significant predictors of safe pediatric blood transfusion knowledge and practices among nurses. Recommendations: The study recommends ongoing professional training programs, competency-based assessment, and mentorship programs to improve blood transfusion safety in pediatric nurses.