Clinical Transplant Coordinator

Department: Miami Transplant Institute (Heart Acquisition)
Address: 1801 NW 9th Avenue, Miami, Florida 33136
Shift details: Full-Time, Days

Jackson Memorial Hospital is the flagship hospital for Jackson Health System and it has been a beacon of medical excellence and community care for more than a century. Located in the heart of the City of Miami, Jackson Memorial has been ground zero for some of the world's greatest medical breakthroughs and important moments in South Florida. We've grown into one of the nation's largest public hospitals, and one of the few that is also a world-class academic medical center with a proud mission and proven success. Jackson Memorial is an accredited, tertiary teaching hospital with 1,500 licensed beds, where nearly every medical specialty is provided by some of the world's most skilled and highly regarded multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals.

About the Role

The Clinical Transplant Coordinator is a professional designated member of the transplant healthcare team who will be assigned primary responsibility for coordinating clinical aspects of care. The coordinator will work with patients and their families beginning with the evaluation for transplantation and continue through and after transplantation, in a compassionate and tactful manner to facilitate access to and provide continuity of care. The coordinator will also work with other members of the transplant team, including physicians, surgeons, nurses, social workers, financial coordinators, and administrative personnel at the transplant program.

The Clinical Transplant Coordinator performs independently and seeks support/direction as needed. The Clinical Transplant Coordinator must demonstrate the knowledge and skills necessary to provide care appropriate to the age of their patients; demonstrate knowledge of growth and development; assess data reflective of patients' status; and identify each patient's requirements relative to age-specific needs.

Responsibilities

Candidate/Living Donor Phase:

• Identifies absolute and relative contraindications to transplantation/donation.
• Knowledge of abnormal diagnostic and laboratory testing in pre-transplant patient/living donor population and ability to interpret results and maintain program criteria protocols for inclusion for transplant candidacy/living donation.
• Participates in both patient/living donor and family education.
• Assists in the evaluation and selection of transplant candidates/potential living donors.
• Assists transplant candidates/living donors with reviewing informed consent information/education and confirms patient understanding.
• Maintains appropriate monitoring of patients' status throughout evaluation and while on the deceased donor organ transplant waiting list/pending donation.
• Knowledge of UNOS and CMS regulations for pre-transplant evaluation/living donation.
• Handles communications, listing, and waitlist maintenance/management.
• Knowledge of listing criteria for specific organs, upgrades, appeals, and extensions/knowledge of donor selection criteria.
• Knowledge of UNOS/CMS policy related to transplant candidacy, organ procurement agencies, types of organ offers, recipient and donor matching, and communication to facilities to accomplish transplant goals/knowledge of all policies and bylaws related to living donation.
• Knowledge of hepatitis and HIV co-infection protocols and impact on candidacy requirements.
• Knowledge and experience in the special needs of children being evaluated for transplant.
• Ability to maintain follow-up and monitoring of large patient load (450-500 patients), clinic management, laboratory orders, diagnostic testing, communication, and paperwork.
• Participates in multidisciplinary selection committee meetings.

Transplant/Donation Inpatient Phase:

• Assumes lead in directing responsibility of all patient, donor, and family education.
• Maintains communication with patients' referring physicians.
• Contributes to the education and acts as the resource person regarding transplantation and living donation for all staff nurses.
• Acts as liaison between patients, donors, families, and other healthcare team members.
• Prepares patients and living donors for discharge and outpatient follow-up.
• Member of multidisciplinary team; daily rounds with team on all patients.

Post Transplant/Donation Phase:

• Knowledge of immunosuppression management and protocol adjustment of medications related to specific transplant type, co-morbid factors, and time from transplant.
• Experience in emergency triage of post-transplant patients/living donors over the phone to assess and evaluate care needs and course of action needed.
• Monitors and follows all diagnostic studies.
• Evaluates patient health status on a regular basis.
• Communicates all patient/living donor issues and concerns to appropriate transplant physicians.
• Ability to identify symptoms and issues related to long-term immunosuppression, PTLD, infections, and complications of living donation.
• Knowledge of monitoring and assessment of post-transplant patients with co-infection (HIV, HCV, HPV, EBV, CMV).
• Ability to maintain follow-up and monitoring of large patient load (300-500 patients), clinic management, medication refills, laboratory orders, diagnostic testing, prior authorizations, and paperwork.
• Coordinates comprehensive care with other team members (e.g., financial coordinator, social worker, dietician).
• Monitors for signs/symptoms of post-op complications after living donation.
• Provides donors and families education regarding care post-donation.
• Communicates to donor the importance of follow-up with the Transplant team.

Additional Responsibilities:

• Participates in clinical research studies, public and professional education, and completion of all required data as established by UNOS.
• May be involved with the organ procurement process by taking organ offer calls, dispatching the organ procurement team, and arranging for potential organ recipients to be admitted to the hospital.
• Attends (2) educational webinars scheduled via the MTI Quality Program throughout the calendar year.
• Attends and actively participates in program-specific quality meetings.
• Attends patient selection committee meetings, living donor selection committee meetings, and other patient care-related program meetings as indicated.
• Provides substantive feedback from a clinical coordination perspective during these multidisciplinary discussions.
• Assists program with quality metrics related to specialty as identified throughout the year.
• Serves on a departmental or interdepartmental PI Team that has improved a process (PDSA-team).
• Participates in at least (1) performance improvement project during the calendar year.
• Participates in professional organizations.
• Maintains active membership in the North American Transplant Coordinators Organization (NATCO) and other related organizations as required.
• Assists with follow-up to assess the outcome of projects and/or improvements.
• Actively participates in the development of the Multi-Organ Transplant Center and its ongoing Operations Improvement (OI) and patient quality care plans.
• Actively participates in departmental/hospital committees relevant to the transplant program.
• Identifies, reports, and resolves quality issues as per Institute protocol.
• Actively pursues and maintains CCTC certification within 3 years of hire date.
• Follows and performs all related unit-specific policies and procedures, as detailed on the unit-specific competency checklist.
• Utilizes job and unit-specific equipment as required.
• Demonstrates behaviors of service excellence and CARE values (Compassion, Accountability, Respect, and Expertise).
• Performs all other related job duties as assigned.

Heart Acquisition Department Specific Duties:

• Clinical Transplant Coordinators in this department are also referred to as VAD Coordinators, responsible for coordinating referrals into the VAD process, collecting and evaluating data for potential candidates, and preparing recipients for VAD implantation through education, optimization, and emotional support.
• The VAD Coordinator will work with appropriate departments to ensure that professional education for physicians and nurses is provided, focusing on VAD implantation, complications, and long-term care.
• Evaluates and translates research into clinical practice, monitors the process for quality and effectiveness, and ensures the accuracy of the VAD database.
• Collaborates with the clinical team to monitor and evaluate postoperative status, device function, and complications, and coordinates discharge planning by providing education and resources to patients and families.
• Acts as a liaison to facilitate communication with community services, ensures the maintenance of VAD equipment, and provides clinical support during tests and procedures.

Requirements

• Generally requires 3 to 5 years of related experience.
• For VAD Coordinators assigned to the Heart Acquisition Unit: Knowledge and experience in advanced heart failure therapies and experience managing patients with ventricular assist devices (VAD).

Qualifications

• Associate's degree in Nursing is required. BSN degree is strongly preferred.
• Valid Florida RN license is required.
• American Heart Association Basic Life Support (BLS) and any additional applicable life support certification for Healthcare Providers is required upon hire with at least 6 months validity and maintenance at JHS for the duration of employment.
• Must meet and maintain valid and current all unit-specific and organizational skills/competencies, certifications/licensures, as required by regulatory and/or nursing standards of practice for the specialty.