The BWH Center for Clinical Investigation (CCI), located at One Brigham Circle, offers a full range of services and re-sources to facilitate and maximize the hospital’s ability to conduct clinical research. The Center’s multidisciplinary infrastructure provides access to a knowledgeable staff and coordinated programs to assist with the components of clinical investigation.
In January of this year, I started working as the Education Manager for CCI.
I was attracted to the position because it provided me the oppor-tunity to develop an educational program for research nurses and coordinators from the ground up. During the past 11 months, I have implemented a program that encompasses a monthly lecture series, half- and full-day workshops, and a new coordinator orientation. All of the programs award nursing contact hours. I have established a focus group that meets on a monthly basis to discuss issues to improve communication and work flow between research nurses/coordinators and the Institutional Review Board (IRB). This has helped to foster a working relationship with the IRB. Coordina-tors’ ideas are being heard and implemented, which enhances job satisfaction.
In the new CCI suite at One Brigham Circle, I am in the process of developing a Research Coordinator Learning Center. This Center will provide comprehensive resources to nurses and coordinators in how to conduct clinical research with an emphasis on best practices. The Center will help to facilitate research efforts and provide educational materials in regulations, good clinical practices, roles and responsibilities, and principles of informed consent.
Throughout my career, I have been involved in all aspects of clinical research from grant writing and being a co-investigator to presenting and publishing results. I enjoy working as a resource to the research community. Health literacy and subjects’ understanding of research consent forms is my current area of interest. According to the most recent National Adult Literacy Survey, 40 million adults in the United States are unable to understand written materials that require basic proficiency in reading. This statistic presents a challenge to the nursing community in general but more specifically to those who write consent forms for clinical research. I am currently writing a review article on literacy, readability, and comprehension of informed consent forms in research. Through my current position, I have the ability to provide an awareness of this important problem.
Through CCI, I have the opportunity to apply my nursing skills in a unique way to benefit BWH.