LifeSaver Series: Christina Liebrand, St. Vincent Healthcare

At LifeCenter Northwest (LCNW), collaborating with local hospitals, medical centers and medical professionals is an essential part of fulfilling our mission of working together to save lives through organ and tissue donation. These partnerships literally make donation possible. We established the LifeCenter Northwest LifeSaver Award, presented monthly, to honor those who demonstrate a commitment to improving donation outcomes and/or culture through their actions, time and energy. We are proud to announce our March LifeSaver Award winner, OR Charge Nurse, Christina Liebrand, St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings Montana.

Christina Liebrand, OR Charge Nurse at St. Vincent Healthcare, has worked with LCNW on many donor cases at St. Vincent, and every time she has been extremely helpful, pleasant, and genuinely invested and involved in the patient’s care. On a recent case, Christina made scheduling an OR time incredibly simple—she is knowledgeable in our process and truly supportive of donation. Although there was only call staff available, she made sure that we got to the OR on Saturday. She understood the importance of a timely OR to meet the family’s needs. Christina is very prepared for these cases and keeps a notebook with tips and tricks she has learned from previous donation cases. Christina frequently checks in with the surgical staff at the table, ensuring they are comfortable and have what they need. She makes a point of knowing everyone’s name, introducing the LCNW and hospital staff to each other in the OR, and thanking everyone one by one as they come and go in the OR for their help. Christina makes a point on every case to “get to know” the donor—she asks what happened, how the family was, what the hospitalization was like, and honestly cares about the outcome of the case.

Christina let us know that she will be ending her career in the OR and heading to the ER, and in true Christina fashion, began asking what she needs to know so that she can make donation happen and keep donation opportunities open in the ER. Everyone on this case is extremely sad that she is leaving the OR, but know she will continue to be an advocate and lifesaver in her new role. Thank you, Christina!