ONS Connect - December 2008 - (Page 12) Kathy Wilkinson, RN, BSN, OCN®, says that community research programs are becoming popular with patients, which presents new challenges for local researchers. “We’ve started using telemedicine for visits where a study requires a physician visit but no physician is available on that day,” Wilkinson says. cal needs according to the parameters of the protocol and regulatory requirements. Meeting the Challenges of Community Research According to Wilson, conducting research in the community (versus academic) setting presents unique challenges. Community-based research nurses frequently oversee activities at multiple physician offices, infusion centers, and hospitals. Being in the right place at the right time can be tough. “In academic settings,” Wilson says, “research staff can usually walk across the street or take the elevator down a few floors to see patients and physicians in person. When working in the community setting, I have made it a priority to attend cancer conferences at different sites whenever possible. Difficult cases are often discussed, and the research nurse may be able to suggest a study.” It’s not just the physicians who need to be involved in the research process—the entire clinic staff needs to communicate with the off-site research team for patient safety. “Reporting adverse events and making dose modifications per protocol is critical to patient safety and research integrity. Because nurses cannot be in several clinics at once, we rely on study sites to report information to us in real time, but this does not always happen. Research staff often learn too late that a dose modification was needed on the day of treatment, or a protocol-driven test was not ordered, potentially jeopardizing patient safety. It is difficult to appropriately monitor protocol activity when sites lack on-site research per- 12 ONS CONNECT December 2008
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