Penn State New Kensington nurse, Elaine Zarichnak, right, checks the registration table at last year's fall blood drive.
Semiannual event part of
Nurse Elaine Zarichnak’s wellness series
UPPER BURRELL, Pa. -- Students, faculty, staff, alumni and local residents have two donating options at Penn State New Kensington's biannual Community Blood Drive from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 28, in the campus Art Gallery.
Donors can choose between the whole blood or apheresis methods. Both methods are safe and draw approximately a pint of fluid from the donors. The whole blood method is the typical method where the blood is drawn manually, collected in a pint bag and stored unprocessed. It is later separated into red blood cells and plasma. The apheresis method draws blood from the donor, separates it using a centrifuge or a filter, stores the desired part and returns the rest to the donor. This process is done with a machine specifically designed for this purpose.
The Central Blood Bank will collect, store and deliver the blood. Donors of all blood types from the campus and the local community are encouraged to help increase the blood supply in the Alle-Kiski Valley. Last fall's donations totaled 43 units. Since 2006, the campus community and alumni have donated nearly 800 units of blood for use in the local area.
The blood drive was made possible through the efforts of donors, canteen volunteers and Elaine Zarichnak, the campus nurse. Appointments are not necessary as walk-ins are welcome. A free cholesterol screening is available to each donor.
“Blood donors feel good about giving back,” Zarichnak said. “Patients in the community and across the nation receive the gift of life.”
The nurse reminds donors to bring a photo ID, and that it must be at least 56 days since their last donation. In addition, they should not have any tattoos or self-piercings in the past year. Those giving blood should eat a good breakfast and decrease caffeine intake prior to donation.
For more information about the blood drive, contact Zarichnak at 724-334-6066 or emz3@psu.edu
Health Services
The blood drive is a part of Health Services’ Health Promotion and Education program, a series of activities that promotes health awareness, positive health behaviors, and disease prevention. Zarichnak collaborates with others in the health field to identify and advocate for student needs to provide appropriate high quality, cost effective responses. One-on-one counseling is available to students seeking assistance with health concerns such as smoking, alcohol and other drug abuses, nutrition and weight management, and human sexuality issues.
Throughout the year, Zarichnak offers wellness programs and contests for the campus community to increase the health and raise the morale of the campus.
“The basis for the wellness programs centers on our students’ wellbeing,” Zarichnak said. “We encourage and educate our students on the importance of making good health and wellness choices. This allows them to be in a better state to learn.”
Zarichnak earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Carlow University. She joined the campus staff in 2001 after serving as critical care nurse educator at St. Francis Medical Center in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania.
As campus nurse, she provides treatment of minor injuries and illnesses, as well as emergency responses and athletic physicals. She coordinates the schedule of the visiting physician.
The next wellness program, Team Weight Loss, is set for Thursday, Oct. 22. The five-month program is designed for those who want to shed those unwanted pounds.
“The benefits of weight loss are improved sleep, a healthy heart, and protection from Type 2 Diabetes,” Zarichnak said. “It also can save you money and lead to a better sex life.”
Participants are assigned to a team, and weekly weigh-ins track the pounds lost by the team. The team concept gives individuals the motivation to do their best to adhere to a plan to drop the extra weight.
Zarichnak was honored for developing the weight-loss program in 2007. The New Kensington resident received Penn State’s Outstanding Program Award at the annual Rewards and Recognition Celebration at University Park. The University-wide event recognizes individuals in departments under the Division of Student Affairs.
For more about health services, visit http://www.nk.psu.edu/StudentServices/HealthServices/healthsvc.htm
Published author
When Zarichnak is not helping the campus community, she is helping the global community as a published author and volunteer.
In 2010, she wrote a book of inspirational personal anecdotes that was published by Trafford Publishing. "Divine Interventions…Messages of Hope," is a collection of nine short stories on how God touches lives and works in extraordinary ways to restore hope. Writing under the pseudonym E.M. Schick, the Pittsburgh native details personal accounts of God touching not only her life, but the lives of those around her.
According to Zarichnak, through a series of events, she discovered that "God's ways were greater than her ways." The divine interventions validated her belief in God's desire for intimate involvement in her life.
In March, she accompanied 10 students on a voluntary Alternative Spring Break trip to Puerto Rico to work on several community-service projects. The campus contingent spent eight days in San Juan, performing a variety of functions including rehabilitating a mangrove forest and assisting with literacy initiatives.
For more about the book, visit http://www.amazon.ca/Divine-Interventions-Messages-Hope-Schick/dp/1426933460