Registered Nurse (RN) - Cardiac Transplant Coordinator

About Texas Children's Hospital

Summary:

We are looking for and Cardiac Transplant Coordinator - to coordinate all activities, at the highest quality of care for the transplant patient, family and living donor, at a developmentally appropriate level for patients served.  This includes, but is not limited to, completing pre-transplant evaluations, preparation and presentation to the medical review board, coordination of organ transplant and living donation process, education of the in-patient transplant recipient including discharge teaching and planning for outpatient care and post-operative follow-up.

Think you have what it takes?

• Education Experience/Care Coordination
• 2 years ICU experience or transplant experience

Being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 is required for all employees at Texas Children’s, unless approved for a medical or religious exemption.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in nursing, associate’s degree, or technical diploma in nursing with acceptance or current enrollment in a BSN program and signed agreement or an associate’s degree in a related field accepted by the Texas Board of Nursing for the purposes of obtaining and maintaining an RN license required or must be currently enrolled in a nursing bridge program working toward an MSN with a verified BSN-equivalency or a signed agreement.
• 2 year Pediatric or solid organ transplant  nursing experience
• RN License by Texas Board of Nursing or Nurse License Compact
• CPR – Basic Life Support from the American Heart Association

Knowledge and Skills

• Knowledge of Renal, Liver, Heart and Lung pathophysiology and the transplant process
• Ability to  demonstrate and perform generic and unit-based/critical competencies including the specific care of age and diagnosis appropriate patients.
• Demonstrate positive interpersonal skills.
• Demonstrate flexibility and utilize time and resources in a cost effective manner.
• Demonstrate excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

•   Certified in Transplant, CPN, CCRN

Specific Duties

• Identifies appropriate candidate upon referral, and interacts with appropriate staff.
• Identifies requirements for candidate evaluation for transplantation for living donation ion collaboration with the transplant physician
• Coordinates with the multidisciplinary teams to facilitate the evaluation process for potential transplant candidates and living donors.
• Refers potential living donors to an Independent Living Donor Advocate or team for evaluation, following completion of initial screening.
• Interprets serological results of the potential transplant candidate and their implications for transplantation or donation and shares these with the multidisciplinary team.
• Obtains recipient blood type, tissue typing and cytotoxic antibodies according to transplant center protocol.
• Educates candidate/family/legal guardian about all phases of the transplantation process – referral, evaluation, listing, transplantation, and post-transplant care
• Living donation options
• Understands OPTN regulations and Organ allocation
• Collects and evaluates medical, psychosocial and financial data for review by the transplant multidisciplinary team.
• Prepares evaluation results for presentation at the multidisciplinary Medical Review Board (MRB).
• Demonstrates knowledge of, and compliance with, OPTN/UNOS policies and listing requirements.
• Assesses candidate/family/legal guardian’s understanding and educational needs related to the transplant process.
• Shares necessary information about the donor organ, including ABO compatibility, with the transplant surgeon/physician.
• Acts as a liaison between the donor and the recipient transplant teams.
• Arranges transportation of teams/organ to/from donor hospital and transplant center, in collaboration with the designated 
• Provides and maintains comprehensive documentation of donor and recipient information.
• Monitors patient progress post-transplant.
• Verbalizes understanding of standing orders, and acts as resource for internal and external health care providers.
• Informs recipient of their voluntary option of, and the process for, written communication to the donor family.
• Coordinates/ensures discharge planning to provide for recipient’s continuity of care.
• Provides and maintains comprehensive documentation, per departmental procedure, of recipient’s progress and education.
• Identifies appropriate living donor candidate upon referral, and interacts with appropriate staff.
• Identifies requirements for and maintains confidentiality of the living donor evaluation.
• Deceased vs. Living Donation
• Provides and maintains comprehensive documentation of living donor’s progress per departmental procedure.
• Refers to the independent donor advocate or team as appropriate.
• Provides internal and external education related to transplantation and living donation.
• Participates in and supports ongoing clinical research within the transplant center and publishes results as appropriate.