Registered Nurse Transplant Care Coordinator

The Transplant Care Coordinator assists Veterans, family members, and caregivers with receiving the most appropriate transplant options and services to meet their complex health care needs.

The Transplant Care Coordinator addresses psychosocial, as well as nursing and medical needs of patients and their families/caregivers, through participation with the interdisciplinary care team and collaborates in the development, implementation, evaluation, and revision of policies, procedures, and/or guidelines.

Major duties include, but are not limited to the following: Delivers fundamental knowledge-based care to assigned clients while developing technical skills. Demonstrates integration of biopsychosocial concepts, cognitive skills, and technically competent practice while providing care to clients.

Demonstrate proficiency in practice based on conscious and deliberate planning. Self-directed in goal setting for managing complex client situations. Responsible and accountable for all elements of the nursing process when providing and/or supervising direct patient care.

Provides patient management, care coordination, and discharge/disposition planning for inpatient and outpatient settings. Assists Veterans, family members, and caregivers with receiving the most appropriate transplant options and services to meet their complex health care needs.

Coordinates timely processing of pre/post transplantation patients care coordination requirements, to include repetitive record review to assure that ongoing monitoring and timely submission of transplant consideration packets into Veterans Affairs Central Office (VACO) Tracer Program, travel, and imaging/pathology.

Coordinates care with multiple providers across all levels and sites of care. Coordination also includes assuring services interface within the Veterans Affairs (VA) and community programs to provide continuity of care to patients. Demonstrates cognitive decision-making, communication, and counseling to address the patients' needs.

Validates understanding of the rationale for care processes and decisions. Carries on-call responsibility for managing organ offers in a timely manner as required by the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN); reviews organ offers for potential recipients using established protocols and confirms decisions with the on-call provider.

Communicates specific aspects of organ offers with the Organ Procurement Organization, on-call provider, histocompatibility lab, potential recipient, and inpatient/operating room teams. Coordinates admissions for transplant surgery with the referring VA facility, the recipient, and multidisciplinary transplant care participants.

Provides after-hours triage of patient calls for transplant patients as part of on-call responsibilities (compensated in addition to regular tour of duty).

VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package: VA Nurse Total Rewards Pay: Competitive salary, regular salary increases, potential for performance awards Paid Time Off: 50 days of paid time off per year (26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year) Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) Licensure: 1 full and unrestricted license from any US State or territory Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 7:30am - 4:00pm, On call required.

Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: May be Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Basic Requirements: English Language Proficiency. In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7403(f), no person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English.

Graduate of a school of professional nursing approved by the appropriate accrediting agency and accredited by one of the following accrediting bodies at the time the program was completed by the applicant: The Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) or The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE); OR Individuals attending a master's level bridge program in nursing who have completed coursework equivalent to a bachelor's level degree in Nursing may have opportunity to become registered as a nurse with a state licensing board prior to completion of the bridge program.

Upon achievement of a State license, the individual may be appointed on temporary basis and later converted to a permanent appointment upon successful completion and graduation from the bridge program.

(Reference VA Handbook 5005, Appendix G6); OR In cases of graduates of foreign schools of professional nursing, possession of a current, full, active, and unrestricted registration will meet the requirement for graduation from an approved school of professional nursing to warrant an appointment as a Nurse who has completed an associated degree/entry level Nursing education program.

Credit for foreign nursing education higher that associate degree/entry level requires a formal degree equivalency validation from a recognized equivalency evaluation accepted by VA such as International Consultants of Delaware (ICD).

Current, full, active, and unrestricted registration as a graduate professional nurse in a State, Territory or Commonwealth (i.e., Puerto Rico) of the United States, or the District of Columbia.

Graduate Nurse Technician (GNT) Exception: Candidates who otherwise meet the basic education requirements, but do not possess the required licensure, may be appointed at the entry step of the grade and level applicable to the completed nursing education as a GNT on a 120-day temporary appointment while actively pursuing licensure (may be extended up to two years on a case-by-case-basis.) NOTE: Grandfathering Provision - All persons currently employed in VHA in 0610 series and performing the duties as described in the qualification standard on the effective date of the standard (1/29/2024) are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the grade held including positive education and licensure/certification.

Grade Determinations: The following Scope, Education and Dimension criteria must be met in determining the grade assignment of candidates, and if appropriate, the level within a grade.

The Dimension requirements (Practice, Veteran/Patient Driven Care, Leadership, Professional Development and Evidence-Based Practice/Research) are detailed for each grade and level within the online assessment: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13061388.

Grade/Level Scope Education Nurse I, Level I Delivers fundamental, knowledge-based care to assigned clients while developing technical competencies. An Associate Degree (ADN) or Diploma in Nursing, with no additional professional nursing required.

Nurse I, Level II Demonstrates integration of biopsychosocial concepts, cognitive skills and technically competent practice in providing care to clients with basic or complex.

An ADN or Diploma in Nursing AND 1 year of specialized nursing experience equivalent to Nurse I, Level 1 ;OR a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) with no additional professional nursing experience required. Nurse I, Level III Demonstrates proficiency in practice based on conscious and deliberate planning.

Self-directed in goal setting for managing complex client situations.

An ADN or Diploma in Nursing AND 2 years of professional nursing experience in which one year is equivalent to Nurse I, Level 2; OR a BSN and 1 year of professional nursing experience equivalent to the Nurse I, Level 2; OR a Master's degree in nursing (MSN) and no additional professional nursing experience; OR a Master's degree in a *related field with a BSN and no additional professional nursing experience.

Nurse II Demonstrates leadership in delivering and improving holistic care through collaborative strategies with others.

A BSN with 2 years of professional nursing equivalent to Nurse I, Level 3; OR an MSN with one year of specialized nursing experience equivalent to Nurse I, Level 3; OR a Master's degree in a *related field with a BSN and one year of specialized nursing experience equivalent to Nurse I, Level 3; OR a Doctoral degree in Nursing with no professional nursing experience; OR a Doctoral degree in a *related field with a BSN with no additional professional nursing experience.

Nurse III Executes position responsibilities that demonstrate leadership, experience and creative approaches to management of complex client care beyond the immediate practice setting.

MSN and 2 years of specialized nursing experience, one of which is equivalent to Nurse II and meets all dimension requirements for Nurse III; OR a Master's degree in *related field with BSN and two years of specialized nursing experience, one of which is equivalent to Nurse II and meets all dimension requirements for Nurse III; OR a Doctoral degree in Nursing with and one year of specialized nursing experience equivalent to Nurse II and meets all dimension requirements for Nurse III; OR a Doctoral degree in a *related field with a BSN and one year of specialized nursing experience equivalent to Nurse II and meets all dimension requirements for Nurse III. *Note: Foreign education programs/degrees are not creditable as related degrees.

Preferred Experience: Bachelors degree or higher (RN II or III); Kidney Transplant Coordinator experience; Kidney Transplant Nursing experience; Any organ transplant experience; Nephrology/Dialysis experience; Case management experience Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

Physical Requirements: This position requires visual acuity, keen hearing, clear distinctive speech, and manual dexterity. This position requires potentially long periods of continued walking, standing, stooping, sitting, bending, pulling, and pushing. Transferring patients and objects may be required.

The incumbent may be exposed to infected patients and contaminated materials and may be required to don protective clothing in isolation situations or operative/invasive procedures. The incumbent may occasionally be exposed to patients who are combative secondary to delirium, dementia, or psychiatric disorders.

The incumbent must be a mature, flexible, sensible individual capable of working effectively in stressful situations, able to shift priorities based on patient needs