Question

A medical assistant in an acute care facility is checking in a patient who had a deep laceration. The patient tells the assistant that he cannot accept blood transfusions due to his religious beliefs. Which of the following actions should the assistant take?

A) Respect the patient's wishes and inform the healthcare team
B) Ignore the patient's request and proceed with standard care
C) Convince the patient to accept the blood transfusion for his own safety
D) Inform the physician and proceed with the blood transfusion regardless

Answer 1

The medical assistant should respect the patient's wishes to not receive blood transfusions and inform the healthcare team accordingly. In urgent cases of transfusion without a known blood type, type O negative is used.

Step-by-step explanation:

When a medical assistant in an acute care facility is informed by a patient who has a deep laceration that they cannot accept blood transfusions due to religious beliefs, the assistant should respect the patient's wishes and inform the healthcare team. This action is in line with ethical medical practices that honor patient autonomy and religious freedoms. In a medical emergency where a patient's condition is critical and there is no time to determine their blood type, type O negative blood is typically used for transfusion, as it is considered the universal donor and has the least likelihood of causing a hemolytic transfusion reaction. If a patient's blood is tested and both wells containing anti-A and anti-B antibodies agglutinate, it indicates the patient has AB blood type, which is a normal response and not an error by the technician.