She’s seen it all—deathly ill patients awaiting a liver or kidney, false starts when an organ is finally available but doesn’t quite match, fear, pain, organ rejection. Yet, after 20 years in the field, abdominal (kidney and liver) transplant coordinator Denise Burrell-Diggs, R.N., says she wouldn’t trade transplant nursing for any other specialty.
“The advancements always keep you interested and hopeful. Every case has its own memorable story,” she says. Add to this her satisfaction with other team members and her lifelong relationship with patients post transplant, and she has a fulfilling career.
Currently there are 15 abdominal nurse coordinators; nine patient service coordinators (PSCs) help to manage the workload. But there is never enough help to handle the endless calls, paperwork, and bigger caseloads. That appears to be Ms. Burrell-Diggs’ only grievance. With about 50 active patients and some teaching duties, she has good reason to feel overwhelmed at times. “As we’ve gotten busier, it can get frustrating. My husband and daughter don’t always understand why I can’t come home at a regular time,” she says.
Once responsible for both pre- and post-transplant care, she now handles only follow-up. “I really like learning about the problems patients face afterwards and how the drugs affect them,” she offers. Typical questions patients ask: How much contact to have with a sick child at home; how to proceed when medicines are misplaced; what to do about being exposed to a live vaccine. And, there are more troubling kinds of questions: Would she please write a letter to the phone company begging them not to cut off phone service? Questions like these attest to the dire situations her patients encounter. “That alone makes me feel like my job is important,” she says.
Kidney transplant nurse coordinator Kathryn Dane’s career began with a fascination with renal disease. A dialysis nurse for 12 years, she soon saw impressive transformations when some of her patients were transplanted. In 1997, she began caring for transplant patients. She never looked back. Responsible for “pre-eval” of kidney and pancreas transplant patients, Ms. Dane initiates the transplant process, spends some time in dialysis clinics, and answers innumerable questions. She also screens potential live donors.
“My main role is educating people about the entire process,” she explains. Although she too is inundated with daily calls and messages, she loves the work. “I find it challenging and exciting, partly because we are in the forefront of new developments, like sensitized donors and paired kidney exchanges.” She also likes the idea that staff and surgeons share a common goal: “There is mutual respect—the physicians and patients rely on you to sort it all out. It’s a huge responsibility but a gratifying one.”
When Deb Carter, R.N., C.R.N.P., saw her first heart transplant patient one night about 10 years ago in Hopkins’ Heart/Lung SICU, she was so intrigued, she decided to make transplant nursing her career. “In those days, the surgery was more trying,” she recalls. “But now it’s much more refined.”
Excited about the breakthroughs in heart devices and longevity occurring in many of her patients, Ms. Carter believes transplant nurse coordinators play a vital role. Her position combines evaluations with complex postoperative management. “It’s the best of both worlds for me because I like doing the management and long-term follow-up,” she says. As a nurse practitioner, Ms. Carter is able to adjust immunosuppressive drugs and add hypertensive meds.
With 36 years of experience in transplantation among them, nurses Burrell-Diggs, Dane and Carter plan to continue providing invaluable help to their patients indefinitely. Perhaps the ultimate job satisfaction can be found in a comment from one of Ms. Burrell-Diggs’ kidney transplant patients: “The coordinators treated me like I was their only patient!”
