Paula Franckhauser
Paula Franckhauser is a registered nurse and case manager with decades of experience in transplant care, hospice, and critical care coordination. Based in Cincinnati, she currently serves as an ICU case manager at Mercy Anderson Hospital, where she helps critically ill and post-operative patients navigate their care from admission through discharge. Paula is known for her compassionate, service-oriented approach, emphasizing early care planning, clear communication, and strong support for both patients and their families.
Paula began her nursing career in the 1990s in long-term care before joining Christ Hospital, where she spent 25 years working in transplant services. During her time there, she managed kidney transplant waitlists of 150 to 200 patients, coordinated desensitization programs for highly sensitized patients, and provided discharge education and case management for transplant recipients. After briefly attempting retirement, Paula returned to healthcare through Hospice of Cincinnati, where she worked as a liaison before transitioning into her current ICU case management role.
Beyond her clinical work, Paula is deeply committed to transplant advocacy and nursing education. She serves on the boards of the Kidney Foundation and Off the List, a nonprofit focused on transplant support. Paula recently published her book, “No One Left Behind: A Nurse’s Memoir of Burnout, Resilience, and Building Our Army,” which aims to help new nurses understand they are not alone and learn strategies to avoid burnout. She is also working on a second book exploring the history of transplantation in Cincinnati.
• University of Cincinnati- B.S.N.
• Kidney Foundation Board
• Off the List Board
What do you attribute your success to?
I think drive is inside, and I can't sit still, so I might as well work. My grandma always said, you want to die? Sit down. She was 87 years old and lived in a small town in Kentucky. We went to find her one day and she wasn't in the house. My mom panicked, but I found her standing in a cafe with her apron on, working. I said, Granny, you're 87, you don't have to work. She said, I get to eat, and I get to talk, free - leave me alone. And she worked until she was not able. So I think it's in your genes. I think drive is inside, and I can't sit still, so I might as well work.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I ever received came from my grandmother, who taught me the importance of staying active, continuing to work, and always finding ways to serve others.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Make sure it's a calling and not just a job. Unfortunately, people have gone into the field looking at money, and then they get to the field and find out there's no support. I wrote my book 'No One Left Behind' for young nurses coming in, male or female, to help them understand they're not alone and teach them ways to not burn out. There's a lot of education that needs to go on in hospitals and outside education as well.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges in healthcare right now is the shortage of doctors and nurses, combined with burnout and a lack of proper training and debriefing support, but there is also a major opportunity for nurse practitioners to expand access to care across many settings.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Church is very important, a very big part of my life. I think we forget that we're the hands and feet of Jesus, especially in nursing. I believe in building relationships - I still get messages from the doctors I worked with that have retired. It's about understanding what kind of relationship you hone when you're in nursing. I also value family - I have 4 granddaughters that live upstairs from me, and we live on a 16-acre farm where I do a lot of gardening in the summer, canning jams and jellies, and I take produce to the hospital to give to the pharmacists and staff because they enjoy that.