Hello, and welcome to my unit!
I’m Karen Ferris, MSN, RN, CNOR, manager of the transplant, general surgery, general oncology, renal, hepatobiliary, and burn surgery unit, also known as the Black Team. We are located on the third floor Main Operating Room at Vanderbilt University Hospital. The environment on our unit is fast paced, collaborative, and highly flexible to meet the needs of all our patients.
We care for adult patients who need liver, kidney, or pancreas transplants; for those concerned with the care of abdominal disorders involving emergency general surgery, advanced laparoscopy, bariatric surgery, colorectal surgery, esophageal and pancreatic procedures; with benign and malignant tissue disorders; who have liver and bile duct diseases; and need burn related surgical intervention. Our patients are unique because
One of the perks of working on my unit is our vast diversity of our patients. Some of our patients have been anticipating their surgery for an extended period of time; for others it is a first time in a hospital setting due to accident. We aim to provide safe, high quality patient care for all our patients. Our nurses are successful because our patient’s safety comes first, and they believe in multidisciplinary collaborative teamwork.
We orient new nurses to our unit by providing an extensive, multi-specialty orientation period dependent upon the candidate’s learning style and speed. Our unit is part of the Nurse Internship Program.
We encourage professional growth.
If your career goal is to expand your nursing career outside of the traditional bedside care model, the Vanderbilt Operating Room Black Team can help by providing you with numerous ways to expand your skill set by teaching you to run an operating room as the circulating nurse, team leadership, scrubbing, or how to first assist in cases. If you have any questions about my unit, please email me at karen.ferris@vumc.org or visit Nursing Careers at Vanderbilt to explore open nursing positions.
