Question

The nurse is picking up a unit of packed red blood cells at the hospital blood bank. After putting the pen down, the nurse glances at the clock, which reads 13:30. The nurse calculates that the transfusion must be started by which time?

a) 15:30
b) 14:30
c) 16:30
d) 13:45

Answer 1

The nurse should typically start a blood transfusion within 30 minutes of picking up the unit, so after picking it up at 13:30, the transfusion should start by 14:00. However, as this is not an option given, there may be additional context required to determine the correct answer.

Step-by-step explanation:

The nurse picking up a unit of packed red blood cells has a specific time frame in which to begin the transfusion. Typically, blood transfusions should be started within a certain time period after leaving the blood bank, commonly within 30 minutes to ensure the safety and viability of the blood product. If the nurse picks up the blood and notes the time as 13:30, calculating a reasonable time frame for starting the transfusion would likely be within 30 minutes of that time, making the correct answer 14:00. However, without explicit instructions in the original question, we must assume a standard hospital protocol of a 30-minute window. Therefore, the answer that fits this scenario would be 14:00, which is not an option provided here. It's possible that there may be additional context or protocols that we're not aware of that could affect the correct answer.