Post job

What does a transplant coordinator do?

Updated January 8, 2025
8 min read

A Transplant Coordinator is someone who oversees the entire transplant process. The transplant coordinator coordinates everyone involved in the transplant and talks to the patient, the patient's relatives, the surgeon and the donor, and the donor's immediate family. The coordinator helps the patient and the immediate family throughout the transplant, helps explain the process, helps with all documents and paperwork, and provides moral support. The point of contact for both donor and patient and both their families is the transplant coordinator.

On this page

Transplant coordinator responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real transplant coordinator resumes:

  • Manage follow-up care for adult renal transplant patients in hospital and outpatient clinic settings under supervision of physicians.
  • Manage caseload by providing care coordination to individuals with a primary intellectual/developmental disability diagnosis all of whom receive community-base waiver services.
  • Review patients EMR for completion of order test and consults.
  • Administer treatment and medication and monitor patients in cardiovascular intensive care unit, ensuring quality patient care.
  • Perform focused physical assessment, order and report lab results, provide telephone triage and immunizations as needed.
  • Assist with policy review and CMS preparation.
  • Assist in patient rounds and present in-services to ICU and step-down staff.
  • Perform ICU medical management of the donor; and also responsible for circulating in surgery.
  • Function in on call capacity to triage organ offers for liver, kidney and pancreas and facilitate transplants.
  • Monitor lab values and update patient status on the united network for organ sharing (UNOS) list accordingly.
  • Facilitate organ allocation per UNOS guidelines.
  • Provide payroll and administrative support to corporate own restaurants with bank reconciliation and check processing of depository checking accounts.
  • Manage caseload by providing care coordination to individuals with a primary intellectual/developmental disability diagnosis all of whom receive community-base waiver services.

Transplant coordinator skills and personality traits

We calculated that 28% of Transplant Coordinators are proficient in Patients, Patient Care, and Patient Education. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Compassion, and Detail oriented.

We break down the percentage of Transplant Coordinators that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Patients, 28%

    Facilitated submission of managed care applications for transplant patients, managed care applications for approval as a Bone Marrow Transplant provider.

  • Patient Care, 15%

    Interact with multidisciplinary service lines routinely to obtain specific documentation as required for patient care, compliance monitoring and auditing processes.

  • Patient Education, 4%

    Developed patient education materials & identified external resources that are appropriate for patient education in all phases of transplantation care.

  • Transplant Process, 3%

    Follow each patient through all phases of the transplant process: organ failure, evaluation, transplantation, and follow-up care.

  • UNOS, 3%

    Facilitated networking with procurement agencies including UNOS and One Legacy for organ placement.

  • Triage, 3%

    Perform in the role of Referral Coordinator for timely triage, telephone follow ups, huddles and staff assignment.

Most transplant coordinators use their skills in "patients," "patient care," and "patient education" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential transplant coordinator responsibilities here:

Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a transplant coordinator to have is communication skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "registered nurses must be able to communicate effectively with patients in order to understand their concerns and evaluate their health conditions." Transplant coordinators often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "make sure provider communication is kept during all the phases of the transplant process. "

Compassion. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling transplant coordinator duties is compassion. The role rewards competence in this skill because "registered nurses should be caring and empathetic when working with patients." According to a transplant coordinator resume, here's how transplant coordinators can utilize compassion in their job responsibilities: "used empathy and compassion when making phone calls to obtain consent for donation from donors' family members. "

Detail oriented. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of transplant coordinators is detail oriented. This skill is critical to many everyday transplant coordinator duties, as "registered nurses must be precise because they must ensure that patients get the correct treatments and medicines at the right time." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "exemplify keen eye for detail maintaining unos listings and documentation, along with cms requirements. "

Emotional stability. A big part of what transplant coordinators do relies on "emotional stability." You can see how essential it is to transplant coordinator responsibilities because "registered nurses need emotional resilience and the ability to cope with human suffering, emergencies, and other stressors." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical transplant coordinator tasks: "provided emotional support to families. "

Organizational skills. Another common skill required for transplant coordinator responsibilities is "organizational skills." This skill comes up in the duties of transplant coordinators all the time, as "nurses often work with multiple patients who have a variety of health needs." An excerpt from a real transplant coordinator resume shows how this skill is central to what a transplant coordinator does: "develop policy and organizational flow plans for university of washington abdominal transplant program and florida hospital heart/lung transplant program ! "

Physical stamina. Lastly, "physical stamina" is an important element of what a transplant coordinator does. Transplant coordinator responsibilities require this skill because "nurses should be comfortable performing physical tasks, such as lifting patients." This resume example highlights how transplant coordinator duties rely on this skill: "performed focused physical assessment, ordered and reported lab results, provided telephone triage and immunizations as needed. "

All transplant coordinator skills

Choose from 10+ customizable transplant coordinator resume templates

Build a professional transplant coordinator resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your transplant coordinator resume.
Transplant Coordinator Resume
Transplant Coordinator Resume
Transplant Coordinator Resume
Transplant Coordinator Resume
Transplant Coordinator Resume
Transplant Coordinator Resume
Transplant Coordinator Resume
Transplant Coordinator Resume
Transplant Coordinator Resume
Transplant Coordinator Resume
Transplant Coordinator Resume
Transplant Coordinator Resume
Transplant Coordinator Resume
Transplant Coordinator Resume
Transplant Coordinator Resume
Transplant Coordinator Resume

Compare different transplant coordinators

Transplant coordinator vs. Home health nurse

A home health nurse is responsible for assisting patients usually in their households, strictly monitoring their health conditions and treatment plans for fast recovery. Home health nurses work with the patients' attending physicians and other health professionals to develop healthcare plans and administer timely medications. They update the patient's chart regularly, record temperature and vital signs, manage food intake, and respond to the patients' inquiries and requests. A home health nurse must have strong organizational and time-management skills to perform various nursing duties under certain conditions.

We looked at the average transplant coordinator salary and compared it with the wages of a home health nurse. Generally speaking, home health nurses are paid $5,479 higher than transplant coordinators per year.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both transplant coordinator and home health nurse positions are skilled in patients, patient care, and patient education.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between transplant coordinators and home health nurse. For instance, transplant coordinator responsibilities require skills such as "transplant process," "unos," "triage," and "icu." Whereas a home health nurse is skilled in "quality care," "rehabilitation," "physician orders," and "infection control." This is part of what separates the two careers.

Home health nurses really shine in the health care industry with an average salary of $70,685. Comparatively, transplant coordinators tend to make the most money in the education industry with an average salary of $74,712.The education levels that home health nurses earn slightly differ from transplant coordinators. In particular, home health nurses are 7.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a transplant coordinator. Additionally, they're 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Transplant coordinator vs. Registered nurse

The primary responsibilities of a registered nurse involve caring for a variety of patients, from ill and injured to those who are healthy and wanting to stay that way. Nurses have different specialization and work with particular patients, such as newborn babies or those who are suffering from particular medical conditions. They work on different settings which includes hospital, outpatient facility, rehabilitation center, nursing home, dialysis center, home healthcare agency, and other offices. They can administer medications, wound care, and other aids or treatment plan. They also conduct medical tests, interpret the results, and monitor patients' recovery and progress.

Registered nurse positions earn higher pay than transplant coordinator roles. They earn a $9,435 higher salary than transplant coordinators per year.While the salary may differ for these jobs, they share a few skills needed to perform their duties. Based on resume data, both transplant coordinators and registered nurses have skills such as "patients," "patient care," and "patient education. "

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, transplant coordinator responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "transplant process," "unos," "data collection," and "social work." Meanwhile, a registered nurse has duties that require skills in areas such as "bls," "cpr," "acute care," and "acls." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

Registered nurses earn a higher average salary than transplant coordinators. But registered nurses earn the highest pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $64,500. Additionally, transplant coordinators earn the highest salaries in the education with average pay of $74,712 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Registered nurses tend to reach lower levels of education than transplant coordinators. In fact, they're 8.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Transplant coordinator vs. Nurse extern

The job of a nurse extern is to assist the mentor nurse in their nursing duties. They help the mentor nurse in various medical procedures such as administering medications or starting intravenous therapies. They provide or help with personal patient care, including changing bed linens, oral hygiene, and bathing. Nurse externships typically have different requirements that include having finished nursing school, completing a clinical nursing course before the training, and being registered in a nursing program.

An average nurse extern eans a lower salary compared to the average salary of transplant coordinators. The difference in salaries amounts to nurse externs earning a $26,758 lower average salary than transplant coordinators.Using the responsibilities included on transplant coordinators and nurse externs resumes, we found that both professions have similar skill requirements, such as "patients," "patient care," and "patient education.rdquo;

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a transplant coordinator is likely to be skilled in "transplant process," "unos," "triage," and "home health," while a typical nurse extern is skilled in "vital signs," "cpr," "direct patient care," and "direct supervision."

Nurse externs earn the best pay in the health care industry, where they command an average salary of $39,085. Transplant coordinators earn the highest pay from the education industry, with an average salary of $74,712.Most nurse externs achieve a lower degree level compared to transplant coordinators. For example, they're 8.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Transplant coordinator vs. Staff nurse

Staff nurses are registered nurses who are usually assigned to work in a care home, a company, or in a clinical setting. They advise the physical assessments of patients, employees, and residents. They also handle the checking of vital signs, providing basic medical procedures, giving first aid, and, if possible, providing over the counter medication. Staff nurses provide medical attention to the people in their place of assignment. They help pave the path to their patients' full recovery. Staff nurses are expected to be patient and have good interpersonal skills.

Staff nurses average a higher salary than the annual salary of transplant coordinators. The difference is about $4,428 per year.While both transplant coordinators and staff nurses complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like patients, patient care, and patient education, the two careers vary in some skills.

Even though a few skill sets overlap between transplant coordinators and staff nurses, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a transplant coordinator might have more use for skills like "transplant process," "unos," "compassion," and "home health." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of staff nurses require skills like "bls," "cpr," "acls," and "acute care. "

The health care industry tends to pay the highest salaries for staff nurses, with average annual pay of $58,739. Comparatively, the highest transplant coordinator annual salary comes from the education industry.staff nurses reach lower levels of education compared to transplant coordinators, in general. The difference is that they're 7.8% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of transplant coordinator

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Browse healthcare practitioner and technical jobs