CHRISTINE SCHNEIDER, RN

• Job: Therapeutic hemapheresis supervisor,

Atlanta Blood Services

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BARRY WILLIAMS / AJC Special

Christine Schneider is a therapeutic hemapheresis supervisor at Atlanta Blood Services.

• What I do: “I provide apheresis procedures (separating whole blood into its components and taking away a particular component) to patients with various blood disorders, or on donors giving blood, plasma or platelets. I also perform peripheral blood stem-cell collections on patients undergoing bone marrow transplant and donors of stem cells.

“As supervisor, I manage staff competencies and training, update standard operating procedures, schedule patients and institute new guidelines and regulations.”

• What got me interested in this: “I started out as a patient care technician, working in dialysis and renal transplant, and that inspired me to become a nurse. I loved getting to know my patients during the four to five procedures and being a part of their lives every week.

“When I moved to Georgia from New Jersey, I learned about apheresis and took a position at Atlanta Blood Services, which is affiliated with Northside Hospital. It’s not unlike dialysis, but whereas dialysis cleans the blood, we are separating it and taking out different parts.”

• Best part of the job: “I get to work on just about every floor of the hospital — critical care, intensive care, oncology, neurology, cardiac, obstetrics — and with all kinds of patients. My motto is, ‘Have wheels will travel,’ and every day is different.

“Sometimes I am one of the first people patients encounter after being diagnosed. They’re often scared and I get to provide education and help them through this difficult time. I even talk to unconscious patients. When they wake, they often say they know me. What they know is the sound of my voice.

“The diseases we treat are life-threatening, so knowing that I have just helped someone live, or that I have just provided comfort to someone, is a feeling greater than words can describe.”

• Most challenging part of the job: “A patient’s unique case can alter the outcome of the procedure. No two procedures are the same, and you may encounter a problem at any time.

“What we do is heavily regulated by different agencies, and that comes with a lot of paperwork. There is always change in this field, and that keeps me on my toes at all times.”

• What people don’t know about my job: “Most people don’t know what apheresis means or that it is a treatment option for many blood diseases. Stem-cell collection is a rescue for people receiving high-dose chemotherapy and, without it, they can’t survive.”

• What keeps me going: “My patients. They need these treatments, and I want to help.

“I was privileged to attend a bone-marrow transplant survivors’ reunion recently and it was exhilarating. I got to meet patients and their families from six years ago. Their gratitude will forever live in my heart.”

• Preparation needed: Most people who work in apheresis are registered nurses with dialysis or bone marrow transplant experience.

• Salary range: $55,000 annually and more, depending on experience, responsibility and overtime.

— By Laura Raines, Pulse editor. Got an interesting job that you love? E-mail your story to pulseeditor@ajc.com.