Priming Blood Transfusion Tubing: A Critical Review of the Blood Transfusion Process

Many hospital transfusion protocols and related nursing practices have been based more on tradition and assumptions than on scientific evidence. The saline priming of blood transfusion tubing is one such nursing practice that has long been guided by tradition. The risks and cost related to transfusion therapy have spurred a great deal of scientific inquiry in the past 15 years.