Clinical Research Nurse Education: Using Scope and Standards of Practice to Improve Care

A staff shortage of clinical research nurses leaves a few to cover the jobs of many, and heavy workloads lead to decreased quality care and practices. A new plan of hiring inexperienced nurses was implemented at a comprehensive cancer center to help quickly fill roles; however, challenges arose with training. In response, the research nurse leadership team created a course using the clinical research nursing scope and standards of practice. The results validated the need for this course and supported plans to continue to provide the course to new hires.

AT A GLANCE

• The clinical research nurse specialty scope and standards can be  used to educate experienced and inexperienced research nurses about their professional roles.
• The lack of experienced clinical research nurses can create a challenge for institutions with robust clinical trial pipelines.
• Using a questionnaire before and after education implementation can be an efficient way to measure effectiveness of a nursing education course.