Perfusionist - Experience Required - Full-Time

Perfusionist

Job Summary: The Perfusionist will provide perfusion services under the direct or indirect supervision of the physician as required by the circumstances. The perfusionist must be able to evaluate the available data and make corrections as indicated by the situation.

Education: Required: Completion of a course of study which makes the candidate eligible for certification by the American board of Cardiovascular Perfusion.

Position Requirement(s): License/Certification/Registration Required: Licensed or eligible to be licensed by the state of Tennessee as a Perfusionist. Tennessee license must be obtained within 30 days of the hire date. Certified as a perfusionist by the American Board of Cardiovascular Perfusion within 1 year of hire date. BLS completed prior to going to unit/department and maintained going forward.

Department Position Summary: The staff perfusionist is a professional employed by Erlanger Medical Center responsible for direct and/or indirect care of the patient in the surgical setting. This employee is a specifically trained perfusionist who demonstrates the skills, knowledge, and judgment necessary to perform the perfusionist role under direct and/or indirect supervision of a qualified physician in a professional manner to provide quality care to the surgical patient. The practice of perfusion is defined as those functions necessary for the support, treatment, measurement, or supplementation of the cardiopulmonary and circulatory system of the patient. A perfusionist is a skilled person, qualified by academic and clinical education, who operates extracorporeal circulation equipment during any medical situation where it is necessary to support or replace the patient's cardiopulmonary/circulatory function and ensures the proper management of physiologic functions by monitoring the necessary variables.

These duties, upon prescription by a physician and in accordance with hospital policy, include but are not limited to, the safe performance and/or management of:

• Extracorporeal circulation/cardiopulmonary support
• Counterpulsation
• Circulatory support/ventricular assistance
• Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)
• Blood conservation techniques/autotransfusion
• Myocardial preservation
• Anticoagulation and hemotalogic monitoring/analysis
• Physiological monitoring/analysis
• Blood gas and blood chemistry monitoring/analysis
• Induction of hypothermia/hyperthermia with reversal
• Hemodilution
• Hemofiltration
• Administration of medications, blood components, and anesthetic agents via the extracorporeal circuit
• Documentation associated with described duties
• Isolated limb/organ perfusion
• Platelet Gel production

The perfusionist is knowledgeable concerning the variety of equipment available to perform extracorporeal circulation functions and is responsible, in consultation with the physician, for selecting the appropriate equipment and techniques to be used. The perfusionist must be able to demonstrate the knowledge and skills necessary to provide care appropriate to the age of the patients served. The perfusionist must demonstrate knowledge of the principles of growth and development over the life span, possess the ability to assess data reflective of the patient's status, interpret the appropriate information needed to identify each patient's requirements relative to his or her age-specific needs, and to provide the care needed as described in the Perfusion Services policies and procedures.