I am Karen Ferris, MSN, RN, CNOR, manager of the transplant, trauma/EGS, general surgery, general oncology, renal, hepatobiliary, and burn surgery unit, also known as the Black Team. We are located on the third floor of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center adult 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 and patients donating a kidney or partial liver; level 1 patients in need of emergency surgery; 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 they have a wide variety of needs.
One of the perks of working on my unit is the variety of our patients' needs. 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 or an emergent condition. 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.
If you have questions about my unit, please email me at karen.ferris@vumc.org or visit Nursing Careers at Vanderbilt to explore open nursing positions.
Our Specialties
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- Surgical treatment of biliary tract disease
- Biliary bypass
- Portacaval shunting
- Liver resection
- Liver transplantation (donor and recipient)
- Laparoscopic procedures
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- Hemodialysis access
- Peritoneal dialysis access
- Kidney transplant (donor and recipient)
- Pancreas transplant (donor and recipient)
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- Appendectomy
- Cholecystectomy
- Exploratory laparotomy
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- Advanced laparoscopy
- Bariatric surgery
- Colorectal surgery
- Esophageal surgery
- Pancreatic procedures
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- Mastectomy and lumpectomy for breast cancer
- Endocrine surgery (thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal, and entero/pancreatic system)
- Benign and malignant diseases of all areas of the digestive tract and abdomen:
- Liver (primary and metastatic)
- Pancreas (including cystic neoplasms and neuroendocrine tumors)
- Bile duct
- Gallbladder
- Stomach
- Small intestine (including carcinoid tumors)
- Peritoneum
- Retroperitoneum (including sarcomas)
- Colon
- Rectum
- Anus
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- Primary burn debridement
- Skin grafting
