Spotlight’s On: Denise Sobiek

an interview with Napa Center’s Head Nurse/Supervisor, Denise Sobiek, R.N., also known as “Denurse.”

BCP has many departments and hundreds of employees. Do you know the function of each department? Or the role of many of our staff members? Each month, we’ll spotlight a staff member or department. Last month we interviewed Megan Forrest from Shasta. This month, we’d like to introduce you to Denise Sobiek!

What’s your job title? What do you do? And what do you enjoy most about your job with Blood Centers of the Pacific?
I used to work for Irwin Memorial Blood Bank from 1980 – 1986. Those were the days when the Donor History Questionnaire was a 5x8 card with roughly 15 questions. For the past six years, I have been the Napa Center’s Head Nurse/Supervisor. I love nursing and love my position at the Napa Center. I am also a trainer and train the new RNs to be Head Nurses. I work with an excellent group of people.

Being a supervisor leads me to interact with all BCP departments. Most important is my interaction and an open line of communication with my Donor Collections Manager, Lana Dyson, keeping her informed about what goes on at the Napa Center. My main staff include Jennifer Bretta, Apheresis Nurse, and Greg Proell, Donor Technician, along with one other donor collections float staff. The four of us do it all.

Describe your typical day at the Napa Center
My typical day at the Napa Center is my arrival to the center about 30 minutes prior to my punch in time. I am responsible for the entire center. I make sure the janitor has done his job and make sure the temp-regulated storeroom is and has been in compliance overnight. The registration area is readied with the print up of the donor appointment list, the plateletpheresis appointment list, returning voice mail messages and more.

When staff arrive, we have 15 minutes to perform set-up and quality control. I also inform staff of any issues and or memos, reminders, brief team meetings, etc. Our center has six donor chairs, all can be used for WB/Autos/DD. Two of the six chairs are e-chairs for our dedicated plateletpheresis donors. We have six plateletpheresis donors per day. We also have two Alyx DR machines and all of the North Bay staff are excellent Alyx DR recruiters/teachers.

What are the challenges?
The challenge is to keep a controlled smooth flowing center, this I enjoy maintaining. When this challenge is not met, I usually step back and review and analyze the situation to see what I could do different or better. I also ask my staff for their feedback and input.

Anything else to add?
I feel that the Head Nurse sets the tone for the center and enjoying what I do and keeping a positive attitude sure makes a positive difference.

Hearts: Not Just for Valentine’s Day Anymore

by Nancy Dunbar, MD, BCP Transfusion Medicine Fellow, Tamalpa Runner and Nutella Fan

February is a month well known for cupid and chocolate. It seems that starting immediately after New Year’s Day the store aisles begin filling with heart shaped boxes of candy and conversation hearts. We buy Valentine’s for our children’s class parties; we drop hints that we’d appreciate flowers; we lament (or rejoice) that we will have a quiet day of solitude. Few holidays inspire such Hallmark, cookie-cutter images of big, bright red hearts as this one.

Well step aside Valentine’s Day because those February *hearts* are not to be cast away simply because February 14th has passed! Did you also know that February has also been designated American Heart Month by the American Heart Association? Here at Blood Centers of the Pacific this brings to mind patients undergoing heart surgery who may require blood transfusion.

Each year in the United States over one million heart surgeries are performed and these patients consume up to 16% of the national blood supply.  They range from very young newborns with congenital heart defects to very old patients with heart disease.  It is often these patients on the extremes of the age spectrum who require blood transfusion.  For the very young, red blood cells are needed to fill the cardiopulmonary bypass circuit which serves as the artificial heart and lungs during surgery.  For elderly patients, critical illness and pre-procedure anemia increase the likelihood for blood transfusion.  Older patients are also more likely to be on anti-platelet medications such as aspirin, Clopidogrel or blood thinners such as Warfarin which could necessitate platelet or plasma transfusion in the setting of emergency surgery.

Especially in urban centers such as San Francisco with robust cardiac surgery programs, like those at the hospitals we serve like UCSF, place a strain on the blood supply and require community support.

So this month, American Heart Month, have a heart and donate blood.