Donation & Family Advocate

at Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network in Itasca, Illinois, United States

Job Description

Gift of Hope is proud to serve as the federally designated not-for-profit organ procurement organization (OPO) that coordinates organ and tissue donation and provides compassionate service to families of donors in the northern three-quarters of Illinois and northwest Indiana.

Since our inception in 1986, we have coordinated donations that have saved the lives of more than 23,000 organ transplant recipients, and improved the lives of hundreds of thousands of tissue transplant recipients. As one of 58 organ procurement organizations that make up the nation’s organ donation system, we work with 183 hospitals in our donation service area.

The Donation & Family Advocate position is a full-time, 40-hour, on-call position. This role requires the employee to be available on nights, weekends and holidays (as agreed upon by the department and the supervisor) to meet organizational needs and ensure proper coverage. 

The primary function of the Donation & Family Advocate is to present the donation option to families, answer questions and inspire them to say yes to donation in a manner that supports Gift of Hope’s mission.

Compensation range for this position is $71,500 – $80,000 annually

Our Benefits

In addition to competitive salaries, we offer a comprehensive benefits package:

• Medical, dental, vision, disability and life insurance options for full-time employees
• Generous Paid Time Off (PTO) plan
• 403(b) retirement plan with company match
• Tuition Reimbursement up to the IRS-allowed maximum
• Personalized learning and educational development opportunities
• Monthly cell phone and internet stipends
• Paid Parental Leave
• Annual Employer-funded Lifestyle Spending Accounts to support wellness needs
• Support and counseling for personal, work financial or family needs through our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and our partnership with Critical Incident Stress Consultants (CISC)

Essential Functions

There are four areas of responsibility for a Donation & Family Advocate:  Referral On-sites, Approaches/Authorization, Family Support and Hospital Development. 

The following essential functions are the basic job duties that an employee must be able to perform, with or without reasonable accommodation.

• Advance Gift of Hope’s mission, vision and core values:  providing compassionate service, contributing to outstanding teams and engaging as one of our passionate people committed to a positive culture that respects the dignity and worth of each individual. Adhere to all policies and procedures in carrying out the responsibilities of this position.
• Referral On-sites
• Respond to active organ referrals at hospitals across our service area within established timeframe
• Effectively and efficiently review and document patient’s medical/social information needed to make determination for donation potential in collaboration with Clinical Administrator-on-Call (AOC)
• Evaluate family dynamics and readiness with the assistance of the healthcare team; collaborate with healthcare team to formulate plans that address the needs of the family
• Coordinate and conduct effective Patient Care Conferences (PCC) with healthcare team and service lines involved in care of patient; ensure that Gift of Hope and healthcare team are aligned in goals of care and needs for family support
• Collaborate with healthcare team to facilitate necessary testing and services needed to determine potential for donation
  
  
• Approaches/Authorization
• Collaborate with hospital and healthcare team to provide potential donor families with accurate and timely information regarding the patient’s clinical course
• Maintain communication with hospital staff and attending physician regarding the potential donor family’s understanding of the prognosis and act as a family advocate to the healthcare team as necessary
• Communicate with the attending physician and other members of the healthcare team to establish rapport and ensure a collaborative planned approach for the donation discussion and authorization process
• Determine family’s level of understanding with prognosis and what needs they may have in order to make appropriate decisions about organ/tissue donation in collaboration with Family Resource
• Compassionately advocate for donation by providing information about the benefits of donation
• Offer donation to family in an empowering and inspiring manner. Educate potential donor’s next-of-kin about donation options, status of donor designation, or request authorization for donation
• Properly utilize forms or documents needed to capture donation authorization decision
• Family Support
• Provide patient, respectful and compassionate care for donor families
• Provide donor families appropriate clinical support before and throughout the donation process
• Provide donor families timely follow-up information regarding outcome throughout the case and post-op, in collaboration with Donor Family Services department
  
  
• Hospital Development
• Establish and maintain professional relationships with hospital staff
• Provide education to involved healthcare team while involved in referrals, where needed
• Conduct rounding in hospital units when assigned
• Attend internal and external hospital debriefs
• Provide education to hospital staff regarding authorization, family care, and the donation process