A typical day at a plasma center?

GoddessLilithLPN · Sep 28, 2013

Oh my. Where to begin? I lasted for 6 months in a plasma center recently. Thank goodness I found an awesome job at a pharmaceutical company counseling specialty medication patients. Ok, well at first you have to learn to screen donors. Just BP, pulse, temp, hct, total protein, fingerstain and weight. You will be expected to work as a screener, processing as many as 250-300 donors a day between you and 3 other screeners. There are very few breaks and you stay on your feet all day. You arrive early and leave late. After you are proficient at screening, they have you label tubes, and bottles/bags. After you have done that for awhile, they send you to learn how to register donors, check for valid residency, administer a written high risk behavior test (which also tests to make sure donor is literate) and run the donors SSN through the National Donor Deferral Registry. Provided they pass the registration, and the NDDR, you then have them complete the donor questionnaire which is similar to what your local blood donor center uses. After that, they are partially screened then sent in for a physical. You basically perform a full body assessment, similar to what you go thru at the doctors office. Provided they pass, they are then cleared to donate. Other responsibilities include administering rbc immunizations for specialty donors, update the daily SPE list and deferring donors who have not passed. You will also be responsible for hepB immunizations of center staff. If you really want to see what you're getting into, sign up to donate. You will get a good idea of the type of people that frequent paid plasma donor centers.Alot of the time, if you have to defer a donor for whatever reason, they will get angry. Expect to get cussed out at least a few times a week. I'm not saying it was all bad, and I'm not trying to discourage you, but it was just not for me. It seemed most of the donors were just truly in it for the money and didn't really care if they were helping patients.This is what I went through at my center, other centers may be different.

SDALPN · Sep 28, 2013

That sounds about like my understanding so far. What made you leave?

GoddessLilithLPN · Sep 29, 2013

Mostly the donors. I'm a caring person, and it was so disconcerting that we had people who were so careless about their health and obviously donating just for the money. Also, my feet hurt so bad by the time got home, I was almost in tears. They had absolutely no chairs for the staff to sit in and we only got a half an hour break for a ten hour shift. They took away our two 15 minute breaks. On slower dayswl, we were able to have an additional 10 minute break on top of our lunch break. But like I said before, this was just the center I worked in. It doesn't necessarily represent other centers.

xoemmylouox, ASN, RN · Sep 29, 2013

If you offer money people are going to donate for it. We have the plasma centers here as well. I went once and left right away. There were so many people there I would have been there all day! Yes quite a few looked shady. Meh, I see these same people at WalMart. I can imagine your feet being sore and getting tired of the abuse.

SDALPN · Sep 29, 2013

I work in the homes of the same crowd that frequents that type of facility. But I'm thinking that it will be better since I won't have to put up with their behavior like I would in their home. Plus if they are a pain, its not like I'm stuck with them for an entire shift...just an hr or so.

Anything else?

Biffbradford · Sep 29, 2013

Before nursing, I worked as a technician for a summer. Learning how to stick someone with war movies BLASTING on the TV over your head was a real trip, I tell 'ya! :wacky:

Kooky Korky, BSN, RN · Sep 30, 2013

Who cares if they donate for the money? Why must they be able to read in order to donate? Could you have brought in a chair from another room or brought one from home?

It seems like it would make more sense to check the Donor Deferral Registry before doing anything else.

Biff, why not just ask to have the TV turned down a little? Tell them you will be able to draw the blood better if it's quieter or something like that. I know you're not doing it any more; just sayin';

GoddessLilithLPN · Sep 30, 2013

Who cares if they donate for the money? Why must they be able to read in order to donate? Could you have brought in a chair from another room or brought one from home?
It seems like it would make more sense to check the Donor Deferral Registry before doing anything else.
Biff, why not just ask to have the TV turned down a little? Tell them you will be able to draw the blood better if it's quieter or something like that. I know you're not doing it any more; just sayin';

Well, sorry...it was such a whirlwind while I was there. Yes, we did check the NDDR as soon as the new donor came through the door. They have to be able to read because they are required to pass written test on high risk behavior knowledge. And no, they didn't have any extra chairs, nor were we allowed to bring one from home...according to them sitting decreased productivity. That's all the plasma centers are about is getting as many donors in and out the door, as fast as possible, in one day.

fetch, BSN, RN · Sep 30, 2013

The donation center I worked at was much different from GoddessLilith's - chairs for all staff except the phlebs and techs on the floor, and as a nurse you were expected to do nursing duties first and then assist in other areas second. Nurses were in charge of doing the physical for new donors and yearly for return donors, talking with donors who had tests come back out of range (protein too low, positive for HepC or HIV, etc), and treating reactions that occured on the floor (vasovagal was most common, but there were also seizures, anxiety attacks, and possibility of anaphylaxis or heart attack).

Screening donors (BP, temp, protein, HCT, etc) was a seperate job that was mostly done by MAs, but nurses helped out when they got backed up and we didn't have any physicals. The screeners had private booths and chairs to sit in. Sitting donors on the floor, setting up machines, and D/Cing donors was done by floor techs - they were on their feet all day, but it was an 8 hour day with a 30 minute lunch and two 15 minute short breaks. The TVs were kept at a reasonable level. (We actually had more issues with the programming that was on the TVs than the volume.) Phlebotomists did the actual sticking. For techs and phlebs, again, the nurses could be cross-trained to help out but it was not your primary duties.

Yes, some donors were only there for the money, which meant that they would get angry when told they couldn't donate due to OOL test results. They think you are personally out to keep them from getting their money - you can talk until you're blue in the face about health and safety and they won't care. All you can do is attempt to educate and be firm. There were incidents where donors would scream at staff, throw things, etc -- management had our backs, the police were quick to arrive when we needed them, if either of those things weren't true I would have left much sooner.

Other problems would be new tattoos, donors lying about getting tattoos or taking meds, etc. It's really hard to tell someone they have HIV or HepC, it's hard to tell someone they're too sick to donate when they're crying about how they can't afford to buy food for their kids or gas to get home, it's hard to stick someone with a tiny vein who is looking at you like they're rooting for you to fail so they can get their money without donating that day, it's hard to tell someone they can't donate for 2 months because their bowl burst because someone else set up the machine wrong. But it's easier than watching your patient die in a hospital.

I agree with whoever said to visit the center as a potential donor, but don't watch the donors, watch the staff. That will tell you a lot about what the climate is, and whether management supports the staff or is only out to get the most plasma and doesn't care if donors cuss out the staff daily to do so. It was a great job for a new grad like me to build up confidence in my skills and working autonomously, while also having a few other nurses on staff to discuss issues with.

jtmarcy12, BSN, RN · Sep 30, 2013

Thanks Fetch, your assessment was more accurate about the plasma centers. I was going to mention tatoo's but you covered that. You were right to point out, look at staff not the customers. "But for the Grace of God go I" who knows what the future hold. I have a family member who goes to the plasma center because they are not working and need the money for bus fare, food. etc. We just can't judge people because we don't know what that person is coping with! God Bless you all!!!