Family Support Coordinator

Donor Network West’s mission is to save and heal lives through organ and tissue donation for transplantation and research.

At Donor Network West, we're looking for people who embody our core values: passion, excellence, equity and inclusion, and relationships. We welcome diverse perspectives and foster an environment of collaboration and service.

Position Summary

The Family Support Coordinator provides comprehensive grief support to Donor Network West donor families, addressing their emotional needs through various programs and services. This role includes managing support programs, offering written materials, making referrals as needed, and providing phone support. Additionally, the coordinator facilitates communication and meetings between donor families and recipients when appropriate and assists with maintaining family support by coordinating with Aftercare and Community Engagement on initiatives and community outreach programs.

Job Duties And Responsibilities

• Provides on-site support to donor families in the hospital.
• Provides recipient medical updates to donor families.
• Facilitates correspondence and meetings between donor families and recipients as deemed appropriate.
• Coordinates the distribution of written materials to donor families as needed.
• Assists the Community Engagement and Aftercare departments with Donor Network West events where donor families will be in attendance.
• Provides telephone support to donor family members and referrals to community resources as needed.
• Coordinates with other DNWest departments to create and implement the Donor Remembrance Ceremonies on an annual basis.
• Assists with DNWest programs such as grief support groups, workshops, and donor family social media accounts, addressing issues pertinent to donor families' grief and loss.
• Provides on-site support to donor families for DRIFT when special circumstances warrant.
• Maintains accurate donor family records.
• Attends staff meetings, training programs, and in-services as deemed necessary by the Supervisor or Manager of Family Services.
• Supports the organization’s Standards of Professional Conduct as outlined in the Donor Network West Policies and Procedures and the mission, vision, and values of the organization.
• Demonstrates a passion for organ and tissue donation.
• Detailed support work to include:
  
  

Onsite Presence

• Secures and maintains positive hospital leadership, physician, nurse, and ancillary care staff relationships.
• Able to share action plans with DNWest and hospital teams.
• Maintains a supportive onsite presence as appropriate.
• Provides conflict resolution.
• Utilizes critical thinking skills in the moment to achieve the desired end result.
• Referral Response and Authorization/Notification when needed:
• Respond promptly and appropriately to potential donor referrals to assess family dynamics, donor suitability and to enhance the referral and authorization process.
• Review donor suitability with Referral Management team, inform hospital staff of outcome and create plan to follow.
• Collaborate with the hospital staff to determine and locate the Authorizing Party.
• Acts as a liaison between hospital staff and patient’s family.
• Proficiently and accurately enter data into Digital Donor.
• Performs potential donor evaluation on-sites when requested by Resource Triage Coordinator (RTC).
  
  

Assessment And Planning

• Visually assesses donors, interpret charts, document information, and communicates findings.
• Communicates and collaborates with the attending physician and other members of the healthcare team to establish rapport, provide education on the benefits of donation, and ensure a collaborative planned approach for the donation discussion and authorization process.
• Maintains communication with hospital staff and attending physician regarding the potential donor family’s understanding of the prognosis and acts as a family advocate to the health care team as necessary.
  
  

Donation Discussion And Family Support

• Participates in the donation discussion and authorization process using the Dual Advocacy Fundamentals for potential organ and tissue donor families prior to, during, and after death declaration.
• Provides donation discussion core elements effectively, advocates for donation, and accurately completes authorization documentation.
• Accesses all pertinent donor registries and assesses for a Document of Gift.
• Able to complete all required documentation and authorization forms.
• Effectively guides and documents the Donor Risk Assessment Interview.
• Assists with the bereavement support, answers questions, and provides care to both donor and non-donor families as applicable.
• Completes calls during the donation process (daily update call post OR call) when the onsite Clinical Coordinator requests assistance or when appropriate.
  
  

Qualifications

• Possess knowledge of medical and legal principles of authorization, donor evaluation, and management.
• Has the ability to communicate and present information effectively and concisely.
• Has the ability to work productively both independently and as a team participant with accountability to all other team members.
• Proactive team player who must uphold the core values of the organization, which include passion, integrity, and teamwork.
• Has strong conflict management skills as well as excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Multi-lingual skills are beneficial. The most common languages spoken are Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Vietnamese.
• Flexible and able to adapt to changing environments, establish appropriate priorities, and handle highly stressful situations in a calm mature manner using sufficient judgment and discretion at all times.
  
  

Education And Experience

• Education: Four (4) year Bachelor’s degree or one (1) year applicable OPO (organ procurement organization) experience.
• Documented education in grief counseling preferred.
• Experience: Customer service; bilingual preferred.
• Must have ability to travel within the DNWest’s service area by car. Must maintain a valid driver’s license and current vehicle insurance based on applicable state minimum insurance coverage standards.
  
  

$32.14 - $35.71 an hour

Provided compensation data is subject to change based on location and work status. Salary data provided by third party sites do not accurately reflect our pay structure.