Donor room personnel attitudes toward autologous donors

Patients with serious illnesses who donate their blood for autologous use create anxiety for many phlebotomists. Donor room staff were surveyed at three donor centers, using confidential questionnaires, to identify their concerns and to evaluate factors associated with reduced anxiety toward autologous donors. Among respondents (n = 93), 58 percent had patient care experience within the last 5 years, which correlated with diminished concern about phlebotomizing cardiac patients (r = .21; p = 0.04). Fifty-seven percent of respondents had drawn blood from greater than 50 autologous donors. Surprisingly, the experience of drawing blood from relatively large numbers of autologous donors did not correlate with increased confidence in phlebotomizing pediatric, cardiac, and elderly patients (r = -.04; p = 0.75). Those respondents who felt that they had adequate medical support agreed with more liberal donor criteria and were more confident about phlebotomizing pediatric, cardiac, and elderly patients (r = -.32; p = 0.001). Those respondents who believed most strongly in the benefits of autologous transfusion had the least anxiety toward donors who were medically more complex (r = .39; p = 0.0001). It is concluded that, contrary to what might be expected, phlebotomizing large numbers of autologous donors does not reduce the anxiety of staff members when they encounter donors with complex medical problems. Factors that do reduce anxiety include dependable physician and other medical support services, previous experience in direct patient care, and knowledge of the benefits of autologous transfusion.