Introduction: An old saying states: no blood, no life. The human body was from time immemorial a mystery and people have always been fascinated by blood. Even ancient civilizations were aware of its importance and crucial role in maintaining life. Nevertheless, the first human to human blood transfusion was performed successfully no earlier than in modern time, which required thorough understanding of blood circulation and the functioning of the human body in general. All of that was based on science, especially medicine. Purpose: This thesis is based on a review of literature to provide insight into the impact of historic events and discoveries on the development of transfusion and the issues medical staff encountered when treating patients with blood. Methods: The descriptive method was used in the research by means of an overview of scientific and expert literature lasting from June 2016 to February 2017. Considering the nature of the topic, the time frame for the resources was not limited. The following keywords were used in the search: transfusion, history, blood, war, nurses. The keywords were used in conjunction with Boolean operator AND in these databases: CINAHL, Medline (Pub Med), DiKUL and COBIB.SI. A total of 345,467 hits were identified, of which 38 were selected with regard to all the exclusion criteria. Discussion and conclusion: Blood transfusion is undoubtedly one of the important and rather irreplaceable ways of treatment, which is why it comes as no surprise that the idea of blood transfusion seemed intriguing to ancient cultures. At first, attempts to treat with blood often resulted in death, but in no way hampered further development of transfusion. The procedure peaked at the beginning of the 20th century after the discovery of blood types and sodium citrate as an anticoagulant. Those discoveries proved to be particularly useful in the interwar period when well-organised blood transfusion services saved many lives. As a result, blood transfusion once again earned people's trust. The introduction of voluntary blood donation meant that treatment with blood became safer than ever. This could be attributed to the development of nursing care and nurses, who played a vital role in the interwar period. Nursing care in modern transfusion practices became even more important owing to thorough knowledge and more professional responsibilities.
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