Trauma Nursing Clinician Program

Since 1992, we have offered the Parkland Trauma Nurse Clinician Program. This training program offers a unique structure for trauma nursing. A dedicated team of 24 nurses are responsible for the trauma resuscitation, continuum of care and coordination through the patient’s hospitalization. 

The trauma nurses evaluate the patient’s injuries and ensure the bedside nurse is current with the plan of care and anticipated disposition. The trauma nurses define performance improvement issues and abstract data for the trauma registry in the inpatient setting. The primary role of the trauma nurse is trauma care, coordination of care, continuum of care and trauma center and trauma system management. 

Nurses must have at least three years of critical care or emergency nursing in addition to current certification in the TNCC/ATCN, ACLS and ENPC/PALS courses. The nurses must have CEN or CCRN certification within 18 months. 

Seven of these trauma nurses are dedicated to the orthopaedic trauma team. Two are dedicated to the neurosurgery team and 15 are dedicated to the trauma service.