Final answer:
To prepare for a blood transfusion, a nurse must conduct cross-matching to determine the blood type, ensure necessary materials and access are available for potential blood loss, perform pretransfusion blood testing, and confirm procedural checks such as equipment, counts, and labeling. In emergency situations, type O universal donor blood may be used without determining the blood type first.
Step-by-step explanation:
When preparing for Marie's blood transfusion, the nurse must take several steps to ensure the patient's safety and the successful administration of the blood product. The initial step involves cross-matching to determine Marie's blood type. This step is crucial unless there is an immediate life-threatening hemorrhage, in which case universal donor blood, type O, may be used. Furthermore, the nurse must ensure the presence of appropriate access and necessary fluids if there's a risk of blood loss of at least 500 ml or 7 ml/kg of body weight in children.
Pretransfusion blood testing is another critical step, where commercially prepared antibodies against A, B, and Rh antigens are used to confirm both the blood unit's type and the patient's compatibility. The nurse also needs to conduct proper procedural checks, such as verifying the name of the procedure, the needle, sponge, and instrument counts, labeling of specimens, and addressing any equipment issues.
In emergency situations like severe trauma where there's not enough time to determine a patient's blood type, type O blood can be used for transfusion due to its universal donor status. And for scheduled procedures requiring blood type confirmation, if both the anti-A and anti-B samples agglutinate, it indicates the patient has AB blood type, which is a normal response and not a technician error.