Transplant Organ Preservationist

Vanderbilt University Medical Center • Nashville, TN

4d

About The Position

Located in Nashville, Tennessee, and operating at a global crossroads of teaching, discovery, and patient care, VUMC is a community of individuals who come to work each day with the simple aim of changing the world. It is a place where your expertise will be valued, your knowledge expanded, and your abilities challenged. Vanderbilt Health is committed to an environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and where your uniqueness is sought and celebrated. It is a place where employees know they are part of something that is bigger than themselves, take exceptional pride in their work and never settle for what was good enough yesterday. Vanderbilt’s mission is to advance health and wellness through preeminent programs in patient care, education, and research. The Transplant Organ Preservationist is responsible for recovery activities related to the allocation, distribution, surgical removal, and preservation of organs for transplantation. Specifically, this involves management of supplies and medication for the case, traveling with surgical teams for organ recovery, set up and maintain sterile fields and back tables in the OR, assisting surgeons during organ recovery procedures, and packaging organs according to regulatory standards. Preservationists have responsibility to deliver organs, blood and tissue samples back to the recipient location, and to ensure all procedures are documented accurately and in compliance with protocols. Vanderbilt Health is a leading provider of organ transplantation in the United States, giving hundreds of people new hope and longer life each year. For more than six decades, the Vanderbilt team has been committed to providing lifesaving transplants to people from all over the world. As Tennessee’s only full-service transplant center, we offer the most advanced care for end-stage organ failure in children and adults. Our transplant specialists also perform lifesaving dual-organ transplants, including heart-kidney, heart-liver, heart-lung, kidney-pancreas and liver-kidney.

Requirements

• High School Diploma or GED
• Relevant Work Experience
• 2 years of surgical technology, organ preservation or donation experience.
• Experience in other medical fields, such as RN, EMT, etc., may be considered
• Direct Patient Care
• Operating Room
• MEDICAL EQUIPMENT KNOWLEDGE (INTERMEDIATE)
• SURGICAL EQUIPMENT KNOWLEDGE (INTERMEDIATE)
• PROCEDURES KNOWLEDGE (INTERMEDIATE)
• OPERATING ROOM CARE (INTERMEDIATE)
• ENVIRONMENTAL STERILITY & SAFETY (INTERMEDIATE)
• INVENTORY MANAGEMENT (INTERMEDIATE)

Nice To Haves

• Certified Organ Preservationist OR NBSTSA CST OR NCCT TS-C
• Associates or Bachelor’s degree in a related field

Responsibilities

• Provides medical/technical support to Organ Recovery teams for the removal of donor organs and tissue including preparation of equipment, medications, clinical guidance, communication and organ packaging.
• Evaluates donor organs for suitability of transplantation.
• Monitors preservation parameters during organ recovery surgery and transport to ensure quality outcomes.
• Coordinates organ transport and delivery to to recipient hospitals, including necessary documentation and communication.
• Demonstrates know of principles of decontamination, disinfection, sanitation, and sterilization and applies these principles to reduce infection potential.
• Participates in quality assessment and performance improvement activities including but not limited to data entry, data analysis, report compilation, presentations to peers and leaders.
• Required to participate in all forms of ground and air travel.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: High school or GED