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What Does a Clinical Research nurse do?

Clinical research nursing can take place in hospital or private clinic settings and can occur on an in-patient or out-patient basis. As a clinical research nurse, you typically see participants (patients) who are considering enrolling or are currently enrolled in clinical trials or studies. Clinical research nurses perform frequent blood draws in order to monitor participants' lab values and physical assessments, as well as check participants' adherence to any study medications.

Education & Training Required to Become a Clinical Research Nurse

In order to become a clinical research nurse, you must go through an accredited RN or BSN program. Clinical research nurses usually start their career by working as a student nurse under a faculty member whose research interests them. While there are no online degree programs specific to clinical research nurses, nor are there specific clinical research nursing degree programs, there are online degree certifications for conducting clinical research that nurses can earn. These certifications, including both the study of clinical research as well as post-bachelor's programs, are geared specifically towards gaining a better understanding of how to conduct clinical trials.

Typical Characteristics of a Clinical Research Nurse

As a clinical research nurse, you should be detail-oriented and a meticulous note-taker. Coordinating and running clinical trials requires nurses to be particularly conscientious of the study protocol and the inclusion and exclusion criteria for enrolling and disqualifying potential study participants. Typically, participants are between 18-65 and are relatively healthy individuals, other than the condition that has lead them to enroll in a clinical study (i.e. for a cardiac study, the participant might have heart problems).

High Demand for Clinical Research Nurses

Clinical research nursing is a much-needed profession because it is through research that we discover new medications and better ways of performing certain procedures in the clinical setting. Depending on the region, salaries for nurses in the research setting can be similar to those earned in the hospital setting and sometimes even higher. Even with similar salaries, there can be more options for career advancement and higher education after working as a clinical research nurse: some bachelor's-prepared RNs may pursue higher degree programs in clinical research nursing such as master's degrees or PhDs, with which they can become the principal investigator of a research study.