title: Education, pay, and job status: a national survey of transplant coordinators.
abstract: To identify education, pay, and job responsibilities, an informal 19-item survey was sent to 1661 transplant coordinators; 424 (26%) were returned. Respondents worked in all phases of transplantation. Education levels varied widely; most respondents had some formal nursing education. Full-time salaries were from $25,000 to $110,000 per year; 67% worked 40 to 50 hours and 19% worked more than 50 hours per week. Of 402 clinical coordinators, 280 (70%) took call, and 122 (30%) did not. Call frequency varied with rotations every second, third, and fourth week; 44% of those taking call did not receive additional on-call pay. Nurse-managed clinics (with physician availability) were the predominant workplace for clinical coordinators. Autonomy and contact with patients were the most liked aspects of the job, and the least-liked aspects were on-call status and paper-work. Increased salary and added support staff ranked top among desired changes in the job. Transplant coordinators appear to be committed professionals who are critical to all endeavors in organ transplantation.
authors.affiliation: Jacksonville Transplant Center at Shands, Jacksonville, Fla., USA.
authors.forename: Mia C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Vincent
authors.forename: Suzanne M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Repper
authors.forename: Thomas G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Peters
mesh_terms: D003625:Data Collection / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004651:Employment / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000191:economics* / Q000193:education* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D012456:Salaries and Fringe Benefits / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014180:Transplantation / Q000191:economics* / Q000193:education* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States