Donation and Family Advocate

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 and 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. 

Donation and Family Advocates are an integral part of our mission. They meet with families of potential donors on the most tragic day of their lives, and offer the opportunity to save lives through the precious gift of organ donation. The primary function of the Donation and Family Advocate is to obtain consent for organ and tissue donation, and provide donor family support and follow-up.

Compensation range for this position is $64,235 - $72,235 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)

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 embraces diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. Adhere to all policies and procedures in carrying out the responsibilities of this position.

There are five areas of responsibility for a Donation Specialist: Referral On-sites, Approaches, Authorization, Family Support and Hospital Development.

Referral On-sites
o Respond to referral dispatches within established timeframe
o Thoroughly read and adhere to dispatch instructions, including HD attachments/special instructions and policy information
o Properly access hospital EMR
o Effectively and efficiently gather patient clinical and social/emotional information for evaluation purposes
o Determine LNOK and/or decision maker
o Properly document all relevant information
o Coordinate and conduct effective Patient Care Conferences (PCC) with internal and external stakeholders
o Facilitate necessary testing and services

Approaches
o Develop rapport with patient’s family
o Compassionately provide information about the benefits of donation
o Advocate for donation
o Counsel families through donation process

Authorization
o Obtain informed consent using proper Gift of Hope documentation/forms
o Communicate with ME/Coroner as required
o Make Medical Record Q/A corrections in timely fashion, as needed

Family Support
o Be patient, respectful and compassionate with family’s bereavement and decision-making processes
o Establish appropriate psycho-social boundaries
o Provide appropriate clinical and technical support before, during and after donation process
o Provide timely follow-up information regarding outcome during the case and post-op

Hospital Development
o Establish and maintain meaningful relationships with hospital staff
o Provide training and education on critical and intensive care units
o Conduct paper rounds where appropriate
o Attend internal and external hospital debriefs

• When performing any of the essential functions outlined above:
o Serve others – assume goodwill; take a team approach; be courteous, respectful and friendly; identity stakeholder needs and resolve issues
o Demonstrate respect – represent Gift of Hope positively through your actions and words; address everyone with compassion, patience and humility; honor diversity
o Communicate openly – listen with empathy and an open mind; be honest in all communication; keep all participants updated with relevant information; work collaboratively with all involved people and departments
o Strive for excellence – identify areas for process improvement and recommend solutions; share your knowledge and expertise; investigate and share best practices

Education and Training Required
The following identifies the minimum education and training required to perform the essential functions of the job:
• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution in an allied healthcare field, business administration, education, advocacy, or related field; or equivalent work experience

Experience and Skills Required
The following indicates the minimum skills and experience required to perform the essential functions of the job:
• Comfort and confidence in the presence of emotional distress, dying and death
• Ability to interpret verbal and non-verbal communication; demonstrate situational awareness, compassion and empathetic listening skills
• Previous experience effectively advocating, collaborating and negotiating with medical professionals to solve complex problems
• Ability to demonstrate assertive responsiveness to changing clinical and social/emotional dynamics, and to drive process
• Ability to demonstrate a high level of accountability with internal and external partners

The policy of Gift of Hope Organ and Tissue Donor Network is to promote equal employment opportunity through a positive and continuous program of specific practices designed to ensure the full realization of equal employment opportunity without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, or status as a disabled veteran, recently separated veteran, other protected veteran, or Armed Forces service medal veteran designated under the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act, as amended (VEVRAA).  This reaffirms our commitment to this policy.