Transplant Nurse Coordinator, Outreach Kidney Transplant Program Full-Time Days

Northwestern Memorial Healthcare • Chicago, IL

6d • $43 - $68 • Onsite

About The Position

Northwestern Medicine seeks a Transplant Nurse Coordinator for its Comprehensive Transplant Center Program Development/Outreach Team. The position is based in Chicago, Illinois, is not remote, and requires substantial travel throughout Chicago and the greater Chicagoland area to satellite clinics and dialysis units. The role combines clinical care with community outreach, education, and efforts to improve awareness and access to kidney transplant care. The coordinator travels with the kidney transplant team and leads kidney transplant evaluations at satellite clinics, while educating patients and professionals at dialysis units about kidney transplant options.

The Transplant Nurse Coordinator is a registered nurse with transplantation and living solid organ donation knowledge and experience. Under the supervision of transplant surgeons and physicians, the coordinator supports clinical care coordination for transplant patients and living donors throughout phases of care. The role may involve candidate intake, inpatient and post-discharge care, and may include designation as an Independent Living Donor Advocate. The coordinator cares for adolescent, adult, and geriatric patients and adheres to Northwestern Medicine's mission, values, policies, ethics, compliance requirements, and applicable regulatory and accreditation standards.

Requirements

• Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN).
• Licensed Registered Nurse (RN) in the state of Illinois.
• Current CPR-Basic Life Support (BLS).
• Minimum 2–3 years of recent, related clinical experience.

Nice To Haves

• Bilingual skills are preferred but not required.
• Specialty certification in the clinical area of focus.
• Previous transplant or organ-specific experience, such as hepatology, nephrology, hematologic malignancies, hematopoietic stem cell transplant, or cellular therapies.

Responsibilities

• Apply evidence-based practice, keep current with clinical practice standards, participate in data collection, pose clinical questions, consult appropriate experts, and use suitable resources.
• Coordinate candidate intake by arranging studies to determine transplant candidacy and collaborating with social work, psychiatry, and financial liaisons to assess psychosocial and financial considerations.
• Maintain local and national lists of potential transplant candidates and ensure appropriate documentation is available to staff.
• Perform on-call responsibilities for patients awaiting transplantation; arrange admissions, communicate patient histories to team members, and communicate with referring physicians and dialysis units as appropriate.
• Participate in patient and family education, facilitate informed consent, assist in living donor evaluation and selection, monitor patients during evaluation and while waiting, and participate in multidisciplinary selection committees and clinic activities.
• Participate in inpatient multidisciplinary meetings and rounds; collaborate with nurses and pharmacists on patient and family education; monitor diagnostic studies; update transplant medical records; and maintain communication with referring physicians.
• Serve as an educational resource for staff nurses, liaise between patients' families and the health care team, prepare patients for discharge and follow-up, and prepare records for weekly multidisciplinary quality review.
• During post-discharge care, monitor diagnostic studies, assess and plan interventions for clinic or remote patients, document education, facilitate prescription renewals, evaluate health status, communicate concerns to transplant physicians, and coordinate comprehensive care.
• Share on-call and weekend responsibilities as assigned to provide after-hours and weekend RN Coordinator coverage.
• When designated as an Independent Living Donor Advocate, protect living donors' rights and participate in donor evaluation from pre-donation education through informed consent, independently of routine recipient-related transplant activities.
• As a donor advocate, counsel prospective donors on emotional and psychological considerations, support systems, external influences, medical evaluation and long-term implications, donation-process navigation and risks, financial considerations, and alternative options for recipients.
• Participate in continuing medical education related to donor advocacy, including inpatient rounds, multidisciplinary conferences, and in-service education; document advocate participation in donor medical records.
• Support research protocol compliance by obtaining consent, ordering blood work, reviewing results, recognizing adverse effects, and documenting in medical records.
• Maintain continuing education and contribute to nursing and hospital committees as a transplant designate.
• Submit UNOS data and communicate with insurance payors as required.
• Participate in new staff orientation and provide in-service education for professional staff on transplant procedures, trends, and issues.
• Assist with or conduct community education programs and participate in outreach to patients and referring health care providers.
• Work with Gift of Hope and other groups to promote organ donation and transplantation.
• Participate in the Quality Management program as assigned.

Benefits

• Tuition reimbursement.
• Loan forgiveness.
• 401(k) matching.
• Lifecycle benefits.
• A wide range of benefits intended to support physical, emotional, and financial well-being and provide protection for unexpected life events.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level