Jo
Age at interview: 49
Brief Outline: Jo has been a research nurse for six years. She has been involved in many studies, including her first on dialysis patients. For her, the role of a research nurse is to be “the bridge” between patients and the wider research team.
Background: Jo is a research nurse. She is married and has children. Her ethnic background is White British.
More about me...
Jo became involved in research nursing after 20 years of working in clinical practice. She was motivated to make the move as she felt ready for a change and believed that her background would be of use in this field. She secured a job in a generic research nursing team at her hospital. Jo described having some concerns over the post being fixed-term (“we’ve all got our bills to pay and mortgages”) but, after six months, Jo’s post was made permanent and she has now been a research nurse for six years. The first research study that Jo worked on was looking at improving cardiac outcomes of dialysis patients. When she first started the job, Jo found that research nursing was “a very different role” to her clinical background and “a big learning curve”. She thinks it took about a year to adjust to her new post. Ensuring that research was carried out accurately was something Jo was aware of, especially with trial staff observing her. However, undertaking training and the support of her colleagues made her transition to the new role a “positive experience”.
Jo currently works on multiple studies, both commercial and academic. When she first started her post, she found it difficult to juggle these but now finds that this variation makes her work “stimulating”. The tasks involved in Jo’s role include recruiting patients, taking consent, going through questionnaires, and taking and preparing blood samples to be sent off. Whilst there are some patients Jo may only see once, there are others that she sees as often as several times a month. Developing relationships with patients is something Jo enjoys about her job, especially in trials that last for several years: “you get to know these patients very well, you get to know their families very well, you know what’s going on in their lives”. She hopes that the findings from these studies will enable “different kinds of management in the future” and the prospect that the research may lead to improvements in care makes it “worthwhile”. Another aspect of her job Jo enjoys is the regular working hours, which she did not have when doing clinical shifts. A task Jo does not enjoy so much is data entry; nonetheless, this is something she understands to be necessary to the success of the trial. Jo is keen to maintain her clinical skills – her current role involves tasks such as taking blood samples and doing observations, but she is planning on working occasional clinical shifts to “keep my skills up”.
Jo feels the role of a research nurse it to be “the bridge” between the patient and the wider research team, including the Principal Investigator (PI). In this role, communication is central as research nurses liaise with other healthcare professionals and patients. Jo described having good and mutually beneficial relationships with clinical staff. She finds that if you “make yourself useful”, picking up odd jobs, the clinical nurses are supportive of her work. Jo finds networking with other research colleagues to be valuable. She shares an office with several research nurses who are an important source of support. Similarly, she stays in contact with other research nurses across the UK, meeting at conferences and exchanging emails. She finds their input helpful when dealing with issues such as recruitment difficulties. Jo also feels supported by her two managers: “I can rely on them should I run into any difficulties or there’s things that I’m not quite understanding”.
Jo finds that most patients are “very willing” to take part in studies and feel there is value in doing so. Nonetheless, Jo is aware that there may be other factors in people’s lives that should be taken into account when considering whether a study is right for them. In particular, the time demands of a study may be difficult to juggle alongside their other responsibilities. Similarly, communication issues may pose a barrier to participation in research. Working on a trial with patients with advanced Parkinson’s, Jo worried about whether participating might put added strain on them. However, Jo felt that taking part in the trial was a positive experience for most and that there were ways to enable communication.
In the future, Jo hopes to stay in her current role and continue learning as she takes part in more studies. She sees this as “a layering up process”, building up her skills and experiences in research nursing.
Jo currently works on multiple studies, both commercial and academic. When she first started her post, she found it difficult to juggle these but now finds that this variation makes her work “stimulating”. The tasks involved in Jo’s role include recruiting patients, taking consent, going through questionnaires, and taking and preparing blood samples to be sent off. Whilst there are some patients Jo may only see once, there are others that she sees as often as several times a month. Developing relationships with patients is something Jo enjoys about her job, especially in trials that last for several years: “you get to know these patients very well, you get to know their families very well, you know what’s going on in their lives”. She hopes that the findings from these studies will enable “different kinds of management in the future” and the prospect that the research may lead to improvements in care makes it “worthwhile”. Another aspect of her job Jo enjoys is the regular working hours, which she did not have when doing clinical shifts. A task Jo does not enjoy so much is data entry; nonetheless, this is something she understands to be necessary to the success of the trial. Jo is keen to maintain her clinical skills – her current role involves tasks such as taking blood samples and doing observations, but she is planning on working occasional clinical shifts to “keep my skills up”.
Jo feels the role of a research nurse it to be “the bridge” between the patient and the wider research team, including the Principal Investigator (PI). In this role, communication is central as research nurses liaise with other healthcare professionals and patients. Jo described having good and mutually beneficial relationships with clinical staff. She finds that if you “make yourself useful”, picking up odd jobs, the clinical nurses are supportive of her work. Jo finds networking with other research colleagues to be valuable. She shares an office with several research nurses who are an important source of support. Similarly, she stays in contact with other research nurses across the UK, meeting at conferences and exchanging emails. She finds their input helpful when dealing with issues such as recruitment difficulties. Jo also feels supported by her two managers: “I can rely on them should I run into any difficulties or there’s things that I’m not quite understanding”.
Jo finds that most patients are “very willing” to take part in studies and feel there is value in doing so. Nonetheless, Jo is aware that there may be other factors in people’s lives that should be taken into account when considering whether a study is right for them. In particular, the time demands of a study may be difficult to juggle alongside their other responsibilities. Similarly, communication issues may pose a barrier to participation in research. Working on a trial with patients with advanced Parkinson’s, Jo worried about whether participating might put added strain on them. However, Jo felt that taking part in the trial was a positive experience for most and that there were ways to enable communication.
In the future, Jo hopes to stay in her current role and continue learning as she takes part in more studies. She sees this as “a layering up process”, building up her skills and experiences in research nursing.
Jo had a friend who was a research nurse whom she asked about the day-to-day activities in the role.
Jo had a friend who was a research nurse whom she asked about the day-to-day activities in the role.
Well you see she, I always knew what she did but I was like well can you exactly tell me what on a day to day because I can’t quite understand what you do. And so that’s exactly what she did and she, I said just explained what a typical day is and then I’ll know where you are. And so she told me you know, that they run certain trials looking at different things running treatments, you know, different treatments against standard care and then measuring outcomes and all that kind and I thought oh that sounds, you know, interesting, worthwhile. So maybe it’s something that I could get involved in.
Jo said it took about a year to adjust to becoming a research nurse.
Jo said it took about a year to adjust to becoming a research nurse.
Mm, how long do you think it took you to adjust to that?
Oh I’d say probably best part of a year if I’m honest. Yeah the sort of, because in the clinical environment you’ve just, you just present it, you know, it presents itself doesn’t it and then you just, you go on that and that’s what you do and you don’t, you know, you’ve got a ward full of patients to look after and sort out and you just get on and do it. Whereas this you know, you have a different, it’s very different, you know, you create your own workload, you look at what you’re gonna take on how you’re gonna do it, you know, it is a very different role.
Jo learned about informed consent for research through a training course, watching her colleagues and being supervised. She felt it was an important research process to get right.
Jo learned about informed consent for research through a training course, watching her colleagues and being supervised. She felt it was an important research process to get right.
Jo planned to start working bank shifts to keep up her clinical nursing skills.
Jo planned to start working bank shifts to keep up her clinical nursing skills.
Jo described the main ways she identified potential participants and approached them with information about studies.
Jo described the main ways she identified potential participants and approached them with information about studies.
Jo tended to hear about Serious Adverse Events (SAEs) quickly, which meant she could make a start on the reporting process.
Jo tended to hear about Serious Adverse Events (SAEs) quickly, which meant she could make a start on the reporting process.
Jo liaised with colleagues to plan out the best way to meet recruitment targets.
Jo liaised with colleagues to plan out the best way to meet recruitment targets.
Jo felt that the relationships she built up with participants in studies was one of the “best things about the job”.
Jo felt that the relationships she built up with participants in studies was one of the “best things about the job”.
Jo felt that communication was key to being a research nurse. She highlighted some of the different roles held by people that she worked with.
Jo felt that communication was key to being a research nurse. She highlighted some of the different roles held by people that she worked with.
That’s key, you know, because you’ve got so many people, you know, you’ve got your colleagues, you’ve got your patients, you’ve got your PI’s [Principal Investigators], you’ve got your study co-ordinators, you’ve got your monitors, you know, for, you know, the concept of that when I first started the role that somebody comes and sits by me and goes through everything I’ve done with a fine toothcomb, oh really, that would be a nice stress free day.
[laughs].
But, you know, it’s, it’s not as bad as you anticipate that to be and, you know, it’s a good thing because if there’s anything that needs picking up it can be picked up along the way and that’s good, sometimes, you know you just need things pointing out to you that, you know, this, this or this and, you know, it can be, it can be rectified more easily than if it’s left to go on and not picked up, so yeah.