some nurses go their entire careers without giving blood transfusions. i, on the other hand, work with a patient population who requires transfusions VERY, VERY frequently. chemotherapy kills cancer cells, but also, destroys/stunts the body's ability to make red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. so, we give them to our patients thanks to other people's generous donations. in 2011, my unit gave 5,784 blood products! here is the breakdown of products in case you are interested:
red blood cells - 2,504
platelets - 2,985
fresh frozen plasma - 253
cryoprecipitate - 17
granulocytes - 25
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