Role of Nursing in Research

The research nurse is an integral part of the clinical research process. They play a vital role in the administration of clinical research studies and the bedside care of patients actively involved in studies. They help ensure research studies run smoothly while the study participants remain safe and are fully informed. 

The COVID-19 pandemic presented a unique opportunity in which it was necessary to quickly implement research in inpatient settings to better understand and treat a novel infectious disease. The research community relied heavily on bedside nurses to successfully operationalize research that unearthed gaps in infection control, workflow infrastructure, research-specific training, and communication practices.

Join host Lauren Sauer, and special guests Jade Flinn and Brooke Noren on this episode of Transmission Interrupted as they discuss the critical role nurses play in clinical research and share lessons learned from their time as clinical research nurses during the pandemic.

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Visit Transmission Interrupted on the web at netec.org/podcast.

Guests

Brooke Noren, RN, BSN, CCRC

Brooke Noren is a clinical research program manager at the University of Minnesota Medical Center. Brooke works with Pulmonology, Allergy, Critical Care, and Special Pathogens research.

Jade Flinn, M.S.N., R.N., C.C.R.N., C.N.R.N.

Jade Flinn, M.S.N., is the nurse educator for the Johns Hopkins biocontainment unit (BCU). Flinn graduated from the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing in 2011 and Notre Dame of Maryland University in 2019. She is trained as a neurocritical care nurse, critical care transport nurse, and nurse education leader. Her role as the BCU nurse educator is to maintain the unit’s overall activation readiness for the safe care of patients infected with high-consequence pathogens. Areas that her work covers include the physical unit, rostered personnel, and systemic preparedness and infrastructure.

Jade serves as a bedside clinical nurse in the Johns Hopkins intensive care units and during inter-hospital ground transports. Her professional interests are in representing the important role of nursing in disaster preparedness and response, health care worker safety and hospital emergency operations. Her most current work involves an international, multicenter COVID-19 clinical trial (Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial), quality improvement developments for category A waste processing using autoclaves, and effective personal protective equipment training for health care worker safety.

Host

Lauren Sauer, MSc

Lauren is an Associate Professor in the College of Public Health, Department of Environmental, Agricultural, and Occupational Health, at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and Core Faculty of the UNMC Global Center for Health Security. She is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and the director of the Special Pathogens Research Network.

She previously served as Director of Operations for the Johns Hopkins Office of Critical Event Preparedness where she ran the inpatient COVID19 biobank and served on the COVID19 research steering committee for JHU. Lauren’s research focuses on human subjects research in bio-emergencies and disasters, in particular, ethical implementation of research and navigating the regulatory environment. The goal of her research is to provide health care facilities with the tools needed to conduct a clinical and operational research response in emergencies. 

Resources

NETEC COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus Resources: https://repository.netecweb.org/exhibits/show/ncov/ncov

NETEC COVID-19 Webinar Series Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5JyGXQ8MP0TZXU2Ldy-jzjLuUNfFX8JZ

NETEC Resource Library: https://repository.netecweb.org

About NETEC

A Partnership for Preparedness

The National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center’s mission is to set the gold standard for special pathogen preparedness and response across health systems in the U.S. with the goals of driving best practices, closing knowledge gaps, and developing innovative resources.

Our vision is a sustainable infrastructure and culture of readiness for managing suspected and confirmed special pathogen incidents across the United States public health and health care delivery systems.

For more information visit NETEC on the web at www.netec.org.

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