Abstract: Objective: The objective of this study is to measure and compare the knowledge of nursing students and nurses on blood transfusion in an Indian context.
Materials and Methods: The present comparative, cross-sectional study enrolled 296 nurses and 177 nursing students through a purposive sampling from a medical university hospital and different nursing institutions. The data were collected in the month of June and July of year 2021, using a self-structured questionnaire. The questionnaire had two sections: Section-I contained demographic data (8 items for nurses and 5 for students) and section-II included 26 items that assessed nurses' and nursing students' knowledge on blood transfusion.
Results: Findings indicated that nurses and nursing students had insufficient knowledge about blood transfusion. Nurses, however, had significantly greater total blood transfusion knowledge scores than nursing students (16.51 ± 3.85 vs. 12.10 ± 3.28; P < 0.001). The marital status (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] =0.456, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.244, 0.853; P = 0.037), educational level (AOR = 5.072, 95% CI 1.982, 9.634 (P = 0.003); AOR = 6.540, 95% CI 2.54, 16.871; P = 0.001) and work experience (AOR = 0.216, 95% CI 0.067, 0.702 [P = 0.037]; AOR = 0.331, 95% CI 0.135, 0.811; P = 0.013) were the significant predictors of the level of knowledge among nurses. The attendance in any educational programme on blood transfusion (AOR = 0.225, 95% CI: 0.062, 0.818; P = 0.041) was a significant predictor of the level of knowledge among nursing students.
Conclusion: Nurses and nursing students have unsatisfactory knowledge on blood transfusion; emphasizing the critical need for immediate and successful teaching activities in this area.

Key words: Blood transfusion, comparative, knowledge, nurses, nursing students