Congress Abstracts 2005

150

THE MISSING LINK IN NURSING ORIENTATION: INTRODUCING CLINICAL RESEARCH TRIALS. Regina Smith, RN, BSN, and Carolyn Kay Buscemi, RN, BSN, OCN^®, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX.

The purpose of this presentation is to report on an educational module designed to provide an orientation to the clinical nurses’s role in the implementation of research protocols. Nurses completing the general orientation often cannot define their role in research trials. Yet, clinical nurses implement significant portions of the experimental plan and provide significant pieces of the assessment and documentation.

Nursing orientation provides a systematic overview of skills and knowledge necessary to practice at a given hospital. Published literature supports a proliferation of information on clinical trials, patient education, and research, yet there is limited information on educational preparation for clinical nurses working with patients on research trials. As regulations surrounding the implementation of trials proliferate, the assessment and documentation by clinical nurses working with patients on protocol become increasingly important. Much of the information obtained during a clinical trial is limited to the integrity of the research nurse data and some of the data may be missed because the clinical nurse is unaware of the importance of reporting this data. New strategies and education of the role of the clinical nurse will decrease protocol violations and improve outcomes.

An assessment was completed with all registered nurses during orientation to determine baseline knowledge of clinical trials. Using this data and the information required for primary investigators and collaborators, an introductory learning module was developed for orienting nurses. The module is available in hard copy and can be presented in seminars. An online version will be developed.

Orienting nurses will be assessed for baseline knowledge prior to reviewing the materials. Upon completion of the module, nurses will complete a test covering the clinical trial process. The test will be re-administered three months after module completion and learning strategies implemented. (Results from this first administration will be available in January of 2005 for this presentation.)

The use of clinical trials in the oncology setting is common and the presence of such trials in the community is becoming more prevalent. The evidence found in this assessment will be valuable to the education of nurses working in all arenas of oncology.