Cardiac Sonography Educator

Stanford Medicine Children's Health•Palo Alto, CA

19h•$80 - $100•Onsite

About The Position

The Cardiac Sonography Educator supports the Echocardiography Manager and Medical Director in ensuring the clinical competence of cardiac sonographer staff and the delivery of quality patient care. In collaboration with Echocardiography Lab Leadership, the educator develops, delivers, and evaluates education and training for sonographers, cardiology fellows, echocardiography students, and other learners. Programs cover orientation, in-services, continuing education, contemporary congenital heart disease imaging techniques, and current research and publications related to congenital heart disease anatomy and hemodynamics. The role promotes excellence in patient care across the department and echocardiography service through staff education, quality improvement, and support for accreditation requirements. The educator consults with department leaders and sonographer staff regarding patient care and staff performance, participates in setting patient-care standards, maintains congenital echocardiography knowledge and skills, and performs sonographer scanning duties.

Requirements

Successful completion of an accredited cardiac ultrasound program.
Five years of progressively responsible and directly related work experience.
American Society of Diagnostic Sonography Registered Diagnostic Cardiac Sonographer (RDCS) credential with Pediatric (PE), or Cardiovascular Credentialing International Advanced Cardiac Sonographer (ACS) credential.
Ability to apply judgment and make informed decisions.
Effective oral and written communication skills, with the ability to adapt communication to the audience.
Ability to establish and maintain effective relationships with diverse groups and gain cooperation.
Strong client-relations, interpersonal, judgment, and professionalism skills in business and personnel matters.
Ability to foster working relationships and build consensus.
Ability to interpret physician instructions and patient medical and clinical records to determine the ultrasound procedure or test to perform.
Ability to organize, prioritize, multitask, and adapt to changing priorities.
Ability to provide leadership and influence others.
Problem-solving and solution-identification skills.
Knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and congenital and acquired pathology as they relate to ultrasound diagnostic procedures.
Knowledge of computer systems and software used in the functional area.
Knowledge of ultrasound physics and the propagation of ultrasound through tissues.
Knowledge of safety principles and procedures related to ultrasound procedures and equipment.
Knowledge of ultrasound diagnostic procedures and equipment or instrumentation.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in radiological science or a related health care profession.
Fetal (FE) credential.

Responsibilities

Develop and design echocardiography education programs and materials for high-acuity and evolving echo protocols.
Lead training for staff and sonographer learners, assess their educational needs and abilities, and establish quality metrics for new sonographers.
Plan and organize educational sessions and develop sonographer orientation and education pathways.
Review peer-reviewed echocardiography and congenital heart disease information and translate it into educational materials and sessions.
Develop pathways to recruit new graduates and train them as skilled pediatric and fetal sonographers for high-acuity patients.
Improve patient-care quality and safety by developing, implementing, and teaching best practices and progressive scanning techniques to new and experienced sonographers.
Use needs assessments, quality reports, and other sources to identify learning needs and desired outcomes for staff education.
Serve as a resource to cardiac sonographers and promote quality patient care by meeting staff education and training needs.
Prepare and maintain accurate, relevant educational materials tailored to their audiences.
Develop, implement, and evaluate cost-effective staff education programs using appropriate teaching methods and adult-learning principles.
Develop and coordinate core education addressing patient-population-specific cardiac sonography care.
Deliver competency-based programs focused on skill improvement and knowledge retention.
Incorporate clinical research into education and training to provide a scientific foundation for professional practice.
Evaluate educational programming and ensure alignment with organizational missions, values, and goals.
Identify needs and opportunities to enhance cardiac sonography professional development.
Maintain clinical competency in cardiac sonography, promote a safe and healthy work environment, model professional practice and lifelong learning, and integrate ethical principles into practice.
Perform sonographer scanning duties.
Collaborate on quality improvement and accreditation requirements, consult about patient care and staff performance, and participate in setting patient-care standards.
Comply with hospital policies and procedures, Service Standards, Code of Conduct, Joint Commission requirements, and applicable safety and quality programs.