Hematology Nursing

Safe transfusion from order to completion — type and crossmatch, two-nurse bedside verification, saline-only tubing, the 4-hour rule, monitoring timing, and first actions when a reaction is suspected.

Stop, protect the line with new tubing, reassess, notify — the universal first actions, then how hemolytic, febrile, allergic, anaphylactic, TRALI, TACO, and septic reactions declare themselves.

Iron deficiency, B12 and folate deficiency, aplastic, hemolytic, and anemia of chronic disease — the lab patterns that separate them and the assessment and teaching priorities for each.

Why cells sickle, vaso-occlusive crisis priorities (analgesia, hydration, oxygen when hypoxic), the crisis variants that kill — acute chest syndrome, sequestration, aplastic — and prevention teaching.

Acute vs chronic and myeloid vs lymphoid (AML, ALL, CML, CLL), the marrow-failure triad, the neutropenic-fever emergency, induction chemotherapy and tumor lysis syndrome, and infection and bleeding priorities.

Hodgkin (Reed-Sternberg cells, highly curable) vs non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the B symptoms, painless lymphadenopathy, Ann Arbor staging, treatment toxicities, and survivorship and fertility priorities.

The paradox of simultaneous clotting and bleeding, the triggers, the classic lab pattern (low platelets and fibrinogen, prolonged PT/aPTT, high D-dimer), treating the cause, and bleeding and perfusion priorities.

The major causes (ITP, TTP, HIT, drug-induced, DIC), platelet-count bleeding-risk thresholds, the bleeding precaution bundle, when platelet transfusion is and is not appropriate, and assessment and teaching.

Acute hemolytic, febrile non-hemolytic, allergic, anaphylactic, TRALI, TACO, and septic reactions side by side — onset, cause, hallmark findings, and nursing actions.

ABO compatibility matrices for red cells and plasma — which donor types each recipient can receive, why the plasma rules reverse, and the Rh rules.

Iron deficiency, B12, folate, aplastic, hemolytic, and anemia of chronic disease side by side — cell size, key labs, causes, treatment, and nursing notes.

Vaso-occlusive, acute chest syndrome, splenic sequestration, and aplastic crisis side by side — mechanism, presentation, key labs, and nursing priorities.

AML, ALL, CML, and CLL side by side — acute vs chronic, cell line, typical age, hallmark finding (Auer rods, Philadelphia chromosome), and treatment approach for quick NCLEX review.

The Reed-Sternberg cell, age distribution, pattern of spread, frequency, prognosis, and treatment compared, side by side, so you can tell the two lymphoma families apart.

The classic DIC results — low platelets, low fibrinogen, prolonged PT and aPTT, markedly elevated D-dimer and fibrin degradation products, and schistocytes — with the reason each value moves and what resolution looks like.

ITP, TTP, HIT, and DIC side by side — mechanism, the main danger (bleeding vs clotting), key features, treatment, and the critical platelet-transfusion rule (give in DIC/ITP bleeding, AVOID in TTP and HIT).