Meet Transplant Nurse Practitioner Andrea Jones, AC-PNP

#uvahealth #pediatricnursing
Transplant nurse practitioner Andrea Jones, RN, MSN, CCRN, AC-PNP, started her nursing career in the pediatric ICU and now is part of our pediatric abdominal transplant team. She's able to help and care for kids throughout their transplant journey. It brings her joy to see her patients' transformation after surgery as it gives them hope and strength.

My name is Andrea Jones, and I am a pediatric acute care nurse practitioner here at UVA. I work with the pediatric abdominal transplant team, which consists of kidney and liver transplants.

We evaluate children who are either born with illnesses that need a liver or kidney transplant or a circumstance that comes up that makes them a candidate. So we follow them pre-transplant, follow them through the transplant process, and then continue care with them post-transplant.

I've spent the beginning part of my nursing career in the pediatric ICU at UVA. And I would say every day working at the bedside has helped me become the nurse and nurse practitioner I am today.

Something about my job that gives me such great satisfaction is seeing a patient, particularly a child, who has struggled with a disease process or illness, and being able to transform a part of their life that gives them hope and a stronger future. And then being able to see them come back to the clinic, and they're running around and making great strides. They're just growing like they should be doing.