Apheresis Nurse Job Interview

jenrninmi, MSN, RN · Aug 17, 2006

I applied for the position of Apheresis nurse, when I saw the ad in the weekend newspaper. It's with the American Red Cross. Yesterday they called me and scheduled a phone interview for today. Well, I had the phone interview this morning, this was my very first phone interview, ever. And I'm 54. It was interesting and I think I did well. I have a second interview tomorrow with the Red Cross at 11 am. This will be a person to person interview, this time.
The position sounds so exciting! I would have one month of paid classroom training, then two months of training with a perceptor. I would earn $19.27 an hour, with great benefits! The classroom training will be from 8 to 5 Mon to Friday, weekends off. :studyowl:
This would be such a great change for me. I have worked in long term care for along time, it would be great to have a new challenge and opportunity to learn. Plus I feel I can really make a difference in helping to save lives.
I love long term care, but I always know someday I will lose another wonderful resident, because of the nature of my job. I am really hoping I get this job with the Red Cross.

Well good luck! Let us know how it goes!

weetziebat · Aug 17, 2006

hi hannasmom,

dumb question of the evening. what does an apheresis nurse do? i could google it, but looked in my dictionary instead. unfortunately, webster's definition has nothing to do with nursing, so i'll just show how dumb i am and ask you instead!

at any rate, you must have done well with the phone interview or i'm sure you wouldn't have another interview scheduled for tomorrow. good luck! i'm sure you'll do great. hope you get the job

HannasMom · Aug 17, 2006

Hi Weetziebat!

No, that's not a dumb question, or as my husband says, there are no dumb questions. :) Apheresis is a procedure in which a blood component, usually platelets, is collected from a donor. The whole blood is passed through a sterile tubing into a cell separator, here the platelets are collected. The rest of the blood is returned to the donor. The platelets usually go to patients with cancer, who are undergoing chemotherapy, or bone marrow transplants or open-heart surgery. The platelets help prevent severe bleeding.

The Apheresis nurse takes the donors medical history, performs all aspects of apheresis collection, using the centrifuge machines. The nurse monitors the machine and monitors the donor for possible reactions. As an Apheresis nurse you provide comfort and care for the donor. To me these donors are people who are making a difference in the lives of those undergoing difficult health conditions and situations. These donors are heroes in many ways. For me this would be an exciting way to spend the next several years as a nurse.

EricJRN, MSN, RN · Aug 17, 2006

HannasMom,

I was an apheresis technician prior to becoming a nurse. It's a fun deal, especially if you like talking to people for extended periods of time (often an hour or more). It's neat getting to know some of your repeat donors. Does the center employ only nurses? At my old job, we were all technicians, with one RN who did QA, worked with the docs on eligibility questions, etc.

Good luck! Let us know what happens!

(Weetzie, if you're Googling, you might also try 'pheresis.' Strangely, pheresis and apheresis are the same thing. For more info, check out www.apheresis.org. While the OP is applying for a donor apheresis job, there are also therapeutic apheresis units in hospitals, where employees [usually RN's] perform the procedure on patients suffering from autoimmune disorders and other conditions that involve abnormalities in the blood. In these cases, something in the plasma is usually to blame, so the plasma can be separated and replaced with plasma from normal donors.)

weetziebat · Aug 17, 2006

Wa! sounds like a neat job and, yes, folks who donate blood are heros. Thanks, HannnasMom and Eric for the info.

Y'all wanna know what Webster has to say?

apheresis: (noun) the omission of letters or sounds from the beginning of a word, as squire for esquire.

Thus the confusion.

It's amazing how many nursing jobs there are. I've never heard of this particular specialty before, but it sounds fascinating

Let us know how the interview goes, O.K?

EricJRN, MSN, RN · Aug 17, 2006

apheresis: (noun) the omission of letters or sounds from the beginning of a word, as squire for esquire.

Kind of like 'apheresis' and 'pheresis.' Very interesting. I know that the term comes from a Greek word meaning 'to take away.'

HannasMom · Aug 17, 2006

I had my interview this morning. I think it went well, two people interviewed me, both asking questions, relating to my nursing background, skills, people skills, etc. The Red Cross here has a very nice facility. Besides the interview, I filled out another application, had a computer test, medical vocabulary test and reading ability test. If I get a call next week, that says "I got the Job" I would start the month long classes August 28.

I really want this job, to me it would be more than a job, it finally would be a career. The RN's there actually have another role, they also go to the hospitals in the area and do the Apheresis treatments. So if a nurse is an RN, after one year of employment, they are trained for the Apheresis treatments. Red Cross has a Tutition program, so who knows, where a career with them could go. I will keep my hopes up.

CandyAUS · Dec 16, 2006

Hi Guys, I work in an apheresis unit in Australia. We actually do therapeutic apheresis. The word actually means "cell seperation" and yes it is greek in origin. This procedure is not only used to collect donor blood products. Where I work, we collect haematological stem cells for Leukaemia, myeloma and lymphoma patients so they can have transplants. we also do Plasma exchanges where we exchange a patients diseased plasma with donated plasma. I love my job, its very interesting and can be quite exciting at times. If you don't get the job in RED Cross you could always try applying for a job in a therapeutic apheresis unit.

EricJRN, MSN, RN · Dec 16, 2006

The word actually means "cell seperation" and yes it is greek in origin.

Google the phrase 'apheresis to take away' for numerous links that explain the origin and meaning of the word. Cell separation is generally what you hope to accomplish with apheresis procedures, but it's not related to the origin of the word.

UM Review RN, ASN, RN · Dec 16, 2006

This is fascinating. Never heard of this job title before. Can you elaborate? What type of skills do you need? (Phlebotomy?) What are the risks and how do nurses deal with problems?

Just curious.

EricJRN, MSN, RN · Dec 16, 2006

Check out the links on this page for some good info about apheresis:

What Happens During Apheresis - Cancer Care - James P. Wilmot Cancer Center - Rochester, NY - Western NY

Strong phlebotomy skills are pretty essential, especially in therapeutic apheresis. Often these patients already have some kind of access though, which helps.