MORA Seeks Family Care Specialist

January 27, 2023

Job Title: Family Care Specialist (FCS)

Company/Regional Office: Mississippi Organ Recovery Agency/Central MS Region

Reporting Relationship: Director of Family Services

Work Schedule: On-call schedule; business hours 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. as applicable

Exemption Status: Exempt

Emergency Status: Essential

Position: Non-Supervisory

Family Care Specialist: Summary of duties and responsibilities

The Family Care Specialist (FCS) is responsible for providing education, counseling, and support to all potential donor families in hospitals served by MORA. The FCS is responsible for initiating the process of discussing the organ donation option with the family with reasonable discretion and sensitivity to the family’s circumstances, values, or beliefs and obtain consent if the family agrees to a donation.  Information should be given to the next of kin so that a fully informed decision concerning donation may be made.  The role of the FCS is to engage, support, and collaborate with donor families, hospital staff, medical examiners, coroners and funeral homes to optimize donation. The FCS is responsible for writing organ and tissue donor follow-up letters, in-person and telephone support of donor families, coordinating donor family ceremonies, coordinating support of donor families, coordination of correspondence between donor families and transplant recipients, overseeing and coordinating in-person meetings between donor families and recipients. The FCS is responsible for communicating with funeral homes and coroners in MORA’s DSA as needed to discuss potential organ donors.

Organizational Responsibility

As an employee of MORA, it is important to: value our commitment to our mission and vision; maintain effective communication, exhibit teamwork; respect diversity; follow policies and procedures; demonstrate accuracy and thoroughness while meeting productivity standards; observe; observe safety and security procedures; be consistently punctual and dependable and continually demonstrate our core values.

Education and Work Experience Requirements:

1. Minimum three years experience in counseling, bereavement care, ministry, or social work
2. Bachelor’s degree in any of the above is preferred
3. Demonstrated ability to persist in situations dealing with intense emotions and families in crisis
4. Excellent ability to communicate by demonstrated interpersonal and listening skills

Essential Job Functions:

1. Is expected to take 24-hour Call responsibility on a rotating basis with other Family Care staff members.
2. Supports and educates the legal next-of-kin/family of a potential donor by providing empathy, compassion, and professionalism to families in crisis.
3. Completes donor paperwork according to MORA policies and procedures.
4. Collaborates with physicians, nurses, hospital chaplains, and social workers to assure best practices and outcome for the donor family.
5. Conducts discussion of authorization and informed request for donation.
6. Responds promptly to donor referrals. Obtains accurate medical information for evaluation of potential organ and tissue donors if applicable
7. Coordinates donor family/recipient information.
8. Completes all applicable databases.
9. Assists with Donor Family/Recipient information and meetings.
10. Participates in Donor Family Support group as time allows.
11. Maintains patient/donor family confidentiality.
12. Attends ongoing training for bereavement or counseling support annually.
13. Acts as a resource with challenging potential donor family dynamics.
14. Meets agreed-upon goals and objectives effectively and in a timely manner.
15. Writes all initial follow-up letters to organ and tissue donor families who consented to inform them of donation outcome.
16. Assists with written requests from donor families for any additional request for recipient information.
17. Assists with written correspondence between donor families and recipients.
18. Assists with in-person meetings between donor families and recipients.
19. Supports donor families and transplant recipients, as needed, in person or via telephone.
20. Coordinates and performs events for donor families, i.e. donor family ceremonies, locally and nationally.
21. Provides prompt, effective communication to funeral homes in MORA’s service area, enhancing professional relationships with funeral homes and coroners, Collaborate with FH/Coroner Liaison  as necessary, to address problems or concerns with funeral homes and coroners
22. Work cooperatively  with the MORA Hospital Development team to ensure that all hospital standards and services are fulfilled
23. Actively contribute in hospital meetings, establish and maintain relationships with key hospital staff
24. Support and participate in hospital’s performance processes in order to drive donation forward.
25. Assist with hospital education and in-services as needed.
26. Collaborate with MORA departments to optimize the donation environment.
27. Is responsible for obtaining guidance from the Director of Family Care and/or the Chief Clinical Officer when encountering situations outside of typical protocols/guidelines
28. Attends and actively participates in daily operations call(s)
29. Performs other duties and assignments as required by his/her supervisor

Physical Environment/Working Conditions:

1. Travel: The FCS may be required to travel by personal automobile or commercial aircraft within the MORA service area to accomplish the job responsibilities of the position.
2. Work Hours: The FCS position is a full-time position as well as an “as needed” position to include weekend hours.

Category II

The incumbent in this position has the potential for occupational exposure through observation.

Equipment/Machinery Used: Computer, copier, telephone, pager, mobile phone, paper shredder, fax machine.

Other: The incumbent will have access to confidential material and needs to use discretion with this information.

Employer’s Rights:

This job description does not list all the duties of the job. You may be asked by management to perform other duties. MORA has the right to revise this job description at any time. This job description is not a contract for employment. Your continued employment with MORA is by mutual consent.

Please submit a cover letter and resume to Mississippi Organ Recovery Agency at employment@msora.org.