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I'm a Clinical Research Nurse, AMA
For background info, I've been working as a Clinical Research Nurse for a little over two years now. I work within the pharmaceutical industry carrying out clinical trials and my role is 100% patient facing.
Ask me anything to do with nursing, clinical trials, drug development or anything else you'd like to know
Ask me anything to do with nursing, clinical trials, drug development or anything else you'd like to know
Scroll to see replies
Funnily enough, I initially thought I wanted to be a doctor 
However when I did my work experience in a hospital in year 10, I realised that the role of a doctor wasn't actually what I thought it was. It was a lot of decision-making and then moving on, with very little time to bond with the patients build a relationship which is what I really enjoyed. Once I shadowed the nurses for a couple of days it became clear to me that that was really the role I wanted all along. I'd previously had a very old-fashioned view of nurses, and was genuinely surprised to see that they were really the main point of call to the patients and had a lot of responsibility for their wellbeing and overall care.
However when I did my work experience in a hospital in year 10, I realised that the role of a doctor wasn't actually what I thought it was. It was a lot of decision-making and then moving on, with very little time to bond with the patients build a relationship which is what I really enjoyed. Once I shadowed the nurses for a couple of days it became clear to me that that was really the role I wanted all along. I'd previously had a very old-fashioned view of nurses, and was genuinely surprised to see that they were really the main point of call to the patients and had a lot of responsibility for their wellbeing and overall care.
What I do now is probably a lot more similar to working in a GP practice than any other area so I definitely understand the feeling! Sometimes I struggle to walk to the coffee machine in reception without patients chatting to me, which is not a bad complaint to have I guess.
Don't tell any surgical colleagues that!
Don't tell any surgical colleagues that!
@Charlotte's Web what are the best and worst things about your job?
Original post by shadowdweller
@Charlotte's Web what are the best and worst things about your job?
I'd say the best things are:
1. The working hours. I work 08:00 until 16:30 (16:00 on Fridays), Monday to Friday. I have a much better work-life balance. I have a diary during the day but also have some time where I can get other jobs done, so I do have some flexibility in managing my day which is good.
2. I get to have more of an academic interest. Each time a new study starts, staff get training on that area, so I've learn a lot since starting here about conditions and treatments I wouldn't otherwise have done. I've also been able to do a supported masters, which I almost certainly wouldn't have been able to do in another role.
3. We get to see patients regularly so we get to build a bit of a relationship with them. We also have lots of patients who enjoy coming to see us so much that they do multiple studies, which is nice.
The worst things are:
1. There's a lot of paperwork and admin. As we are testing investigational drugs on volunteers, everything is documented in minute detail and everything is accounted for.
2. We work in the lab one day per month. While this is a useful skill, it just isn't something I particularly enjoy.
3. There can be quite a bit of travelling involved. Sometimes this is fun, but most of the time it's a lot of waiting around in airports and train stations. Most of the time we are travelling at short notice and when we get to our destination we often don't get much/any free time to enjoy it.
Original post by Charlotte's Web
I'd say the best things are:
1. The working hours. I work 08:00 until 16:30 (16:00 on Fridays), Monday to Friday. I have a much better work-life balance. I have a diary during the day but also have some time where I can get other jobs done, so I do have some flexibility in managing my day which is good.
2. I get to have more of an academic interest. Each time a new study starts, staff get training on that area, so I've learn a lot since starting here about conditions and treatments I wouldn't otherwise have done. I've also been able to do a supported masters, which I almost certainly wouldn't have been able to do in another role.
3. We get to see patients regularly so we get to build a bit of a relationship with them. We also have lots of patients who enjoy coming to see us so much that they do multiple studies, which is nice.
The worst things are:
1. There's a lot of paperwork and admin. As we are testing investigational drugs on volunteers, everything is documented in minute detail and everything is accounted for.
2. We work in the lab one day per month. While this is a useful skill, it just isn't something I particularly enjoy.
3. There can be quite a bit of travelling involved. Sometimes this is fun, but most of the time it's a lot of waiting around in airports and train stations. Most of the time we are travelling at short notice and when we get to our destination we often don't get much/any free time to enjoy it.
1. The working hours. I work 08:00 until 16:30 (16:00 on Fridays), Monday to Friday. I have a much better work-life balance. I have a diary during the day but also have some time where I can get other jobs done, so I do have some flexibility in managing my day which is good.
2. I get to have more of an academic interest. Each time a new study starts, staff get training on that area, so I've learn a lot since starting here about conditions and treatments I wouldn't otherwise have done. I've also been able to do a supported masters, which I almost certainly wouldn't have been able to do in another role.
3. We get to see patients regularly so we get to build a bit of a relationship with them. We also have lots of patients who enjoy coming to see us so much that they do multiple studies, which is nice.
The worst things are:
1. There's a lot of paperwork and admin. As we are testing investigational drugs on volunteers, everything is documented in minute detail and everything is accounted for.
2. We work in the lab one day per month. While this is a useful skill, it just isn't something I particularly enjoy.
3. There can be quite a bit of travelling involved. Sometimes this is fun, but most of the time it's a lot of waiting around in airports and train stations. Most of the time we are travelling at short notice and when we get to our destination we often don't get much/any free time to enjoy it.
This is really interesting, thank you! You mentioned travel - is this something you have to do a lot? How far afield do you have to go?
Original post by shadowdweller
This is really interesting, thank you! You mentioned travel - is this something you have to do a lot? How far afield do you have to go?
It really depends. When we have a new study starting they have an Investigator Meeting, where a selection of the doctors and nurses worldwide will attend a meeting to learn about the study and network. Sometimes they're within the UK but I've also been to Switzerland and Italy. Generally it's within Europe, although one of my colleagues got to go to Florida for a week a couple of years ago, lucky thing!
Your job sounds really interesting! How did you make the move into clinical research? I left nursing five years ago to bring up family. I'm now looking for a course to update my knowledge for a possible career change so I'm looking for advice/inspiration. Did you need any specific skills or qualifications for your role?
Original post by Amanda92
Your job sounds really interesting! How did you make the move into clinical research? I left nursing five years ago to bring up family. I'm now looking for a course to update my knowledge for a possible career change so I'm looking for advice/inspiration. Did you need any specific skills or qualifications for your role?
It was totally by accident! I was working in a job I hated and was looking at literally anything that was hiring nurses. At that point I didn't even really know what the role entailed but went for an interview and thought it sounded interesting. When I applied I remember the job description stating you needed a 'breadth of experience'. I think I'd have struggled in this role without having a bit of post-registration experience, and I was fortunate to have been given a good mix of placements when I was at university which helped to prepare me.
You do need qualifications in various things like Good Clinical Practice, transport of dangerous goods (if you're involved in sample processing), Good Manufacturing Practices etc. however these were all provided by my employer once I started. You also need to be fully trained on any study you may work on - you really need to know the drug, therapeutic area and what the study involves inside out. You need to be trained up to understand the research process and mindset - it took about 6 months before I actually felt like I was being a useful member of the team. I spent about 2 months just shadowing and training before I saw any patients. Obviously it does therefore depend whether the employer has the facility to offer that sort of intensive training to someone with no research experience. Essentially in terms of qualifications it was really just my nursing degree and experience.
What does your job entail, what do you do everyday?
are you a nurse because you weren't smart enough to be a doctor?
Original post by FutureMissMRCS
What does your job entail, what do you do everyday?
Each day is pretty different but I'll give a bit of an approximation of an 'average day'.
08:00 - Arrive at work. Get changed into uniform and check my diary to see which patients I have booked in. I'll then go to the lab and get all the equipment I need for the day, such as blood sample kits or any specific study-related equipment.
08:20 - Seeing a patient for their first visit to the site to discuss a study and try to determine whether they are suitable. This is a really important visit as it's the first impression they get of us and the site.
08:50 - Quick blood draw visit for a patient to see if they may be suitable for an upcoming study.
09:00 - Enrolling a patient onto an osteoarthritis study. At this visit we are ensuring that the patient meets all the criteria for the study, and doing basic health checks to make sure nothing will put them at risk in terms of their participation. They need blood pressures, temperature, height and weight, ECG, blood tests (lying and standing). We then get the patient signed off by the doctor and administer their injection.
10:00 - Ongoing visit for a patient on a cardiovascular risk study. They return all their medication which is counted, documented and we calculate their compliance. We do blood pressures, check that the doctor is happy for us to proceed and then dispense more medication. Each bottle is accounted for online and in paper notes - as it's an investigational drug we need to know where each and every tablet is at any given time.
10:45 - Fitting a 24 hour ECG monitor for a patient on a diabetes study.
11:00 - A patient calls to report side effects - we need to document these extremely accurately.
11:30 - Another few visits for patients to see if they are suitable for studies and to explain what it involves. We do a lot of these!
12:30 - Lunch hour! I tend to sit in my office to eat although there is a small kitchen. During this time I'll often listen to a lecture for my masters and do a bit of uni work.
13:30 - Site Initiation Visit for a new study. This involves a representative from the sponsor (drug company) coming to site to present a new study to us and provide training on it and all the systems we may need.
15:00 - Online training session on cannulation techniques.
15:30 - Query resolution time. We have a team of data coordinators who check all of our work and upload it onto the online systems. This time allows us to fix any issues, clarify information and also do things like check in new arrivals of drugs.
16:30 - Home time!
Original post by bbbbrrrrrrrrrr
are you a nurse because you weren't smart enough to be a doctor?
I don't know. I'm not smart enough.
Has there been any particularly memorable moments (good/bad) whilst you've been on the job?
Not to worry, I was just being facetious!
One of the highlights was definitely going abroad to a meeting in Milan earlier this year. When we go to these meetings we get to see staff from the rest of the UK sites who we don't often see and we really have a great time whenever we meet up. Because we are outside a work setting everyone is a lot more relaxed which is nice! Obviously a lot of the day is spent in meetings, but we always find time for dinner and (quite a few) drinks. Myself and one of the research physicians used a few free hours to go into the centre of Milan and see the Last Supper painting - it was amazing and totally spontaneous, and something I would never have done on my own.
Original post by Themysticalegg
Has there been any particularly memorable moments (good/bad) whilst you've been on the job?
One of the highlights was definitely going abroad to a meeting in Milan earlier this year. When we go to these meetings we get to see staff from the rest of the UK sites who we don't often see and we really have a great time whenever we meet up. Because we are outside a work setting everyone is a lot more relaxed which is nice! Obviously a lot of the day is spent in meetings, but we always find time for dinner and (quite a few) drinks. Myself and one of the research physicians used a few free hours to go into the centre of Milan and see the Last Supper painting - it was amazing and totally spontaneous, and something I would never have done on my own.
Have you published many research papers? If so, how did you shape your mindset to be research orientated?
Original post by Charlotte's Web
For background info, I've been working as a Clinical Research Nurse for a little over two years now. I work within the pharmaceutical industry carrying out clinical trials and my role is 100% patient facing.
Ask me anything to do with nursing, clinical trials, drug development or anything else you'd like to know
Ask me anything to do with nursing, clinical trials, drug development or anything else you'd like to know
Original post by Future Physics
Have you published many research papers? If so, how did you shape your mindset to be research orientated?
I don't actually publish papers as part of my role. Most of the studies I work on are large, global studies with hundreds of people involved in the conduct, design and analysis. I'm really mainly involved in the actual conduct of the study, and generating the data which is used in the eventual analysis.
I am, however, doing a Masters in Health Research and currently also doing an internship working on a smaller research project as I do hope to eventually move into being involved in other stages of research.
Being research-orientated is really different from traditional nursing which is really focused solely on patient care. I now have to balance my nursing care with commercial/research interests. It really was quite a long adjustment process for me as sometimes theses priorities can clash - what might be best in terms of data quality might not be give the patient the best experience, so there is a lot of decision-making in terms of ensuring that the patient remains at the centre of what we do, but that the data produced is reliable/accurate/valid. Lots of nurses/physicians find that this isn't for them and struggle with this balance. I think what pushes it for me is a genuine interest in research and the academic side of it.
Interesting. Good luck with Master's degree, I'm sure you'll do well on the internship as well. 
I definitely understand that side of research and I also have a major interest in research and academia.
I definitely understand that side of research and I also have a major interest in research and academia.I don't actually publish papers as part of my role. Most of the studies I work on are large, global studies with hundreds of people involved in the conduct, design and analysis. I'm really mainly involved in the actual conduct of the study, and generating the data which is used in the eventual analysis.
I am, however, doing a Masters in Health Research and currently also doing an internship working on a smaller research project as I do hope to eventually move into being involved in other stages of research.
Being research-orientated is really different from traditional nursing which is really focused solely on patient care. I now have to balance my nursing care with commercial/research interests. It really was quite a long adjustment process for me as sometimes theses priorities can clash - what might be best in terms of data quality might not be give the patient the best experience, so there is a lot of decision-making in terms of ensuring that the patient remains at the centre of what we do, but that the data produced is reliable/accurate/valid. Lots of nurses/physicians find that this isn't for them and struggle with this balance. I think what pushes it for me is a genuine interest in research and the academic side of it.
I am, however, doing a Masters in Health Research and currently also doing an internship working on a smaller research project as I do hope to eventually move into being involved in other stages of research.
Being research-orientated is really different from traditional nursing which is really focused solely on patient care. I now have to balance my nursing care with commercial/research interests. It really was quite a long adjustment process for me as sometimes theses priorities can clash - what might be best in terms of data quality might not be give the patient the best experience, so there is a lot of decision-making in terms of ensuring that the patient remains at the centre of what we do, but that the data produced is reliable/accurate/valid. Lots of nurses/physicians find that this isn't for them and struggle with this balance. I think what pushes it for me is a genuine interest in research and the academic side of it.
I'm currently doing my nursing degree and have often been frustrated that careers in research are not more discussed or presented as an option. From my understanding, I don't believe we are allowed to have a placement in it either. It's something I am intrigued by but can openly say I know almost nothing about.
Is the role you have described typical of a...shall we say 'general' research nurse?
Can you speak a bit more about your prior experience to applying for the role?
What is the career progression within research?
What are you doing your Masters in and was you completing it needed to be accepted for the role?
What you've described has really piqued by interest. I know I will not be happy working on wards and community is something I hope to go into towards the end of my career. So to hear more about a different option is really exciting. Especially as you describe it as a more academic role but still patient facing. I always envisioned being holed up in a lab!
Is the role you have described typical of a...shall we say 'general' research nurse?
Can you speak a bit more about your prior experience to applying for the role?
What is the career progression within research?
What are you doing your Masters in and was you completing it needed to be accepted for the role?
What you've described has really piqued by interest. I know I will not be happy working on wards and community is something I hope to go into towards the end of my career. So to hear more about a different option is really exciting. Especially as you describe it as a more academic role but still patient facing. I always envisioned being holed up in a lab!
Original post by Ambray
I'm currently doing my nursing degree and have often been frustrated that careers in research are not more discussed or presented as an option. From my understanding, I don't believe we are allowed to have a placement in it either. It's something I am intrigued by but can openly say I know almost nothing about.
Is the role you have described typical of a...shall we say 'general' research nurse?
Can you speak a bit more about your prior experience to applying for the role?
What is the career progression within research?
What are you doing your Masters in and was you completing it needed to be accepted for the role?
What you've described has really piqued by interest. I know I will not be happy working on wards and community is something I hope to go into towards the end of my career. So to hear more about a different option is really exciting. Especially as you describe it as a more academic role but still patient facing. I always envisioned being holed up in a lab!
Is the role you have described typical of a...shall we say 'general' research nurse?
Can you speak a bit more about your prior experience to applying for the role?
What is the career progression within research?
What are you doing your Masters in and was you completing it needed to be accepted for the role?
What you've described has really piqued by interest. I know I will not be happy working on wards and community is something I hope to go into towards the end of my career. So to hear more about a different option is really exciting. Especially as you describe it as a more academic role but still patient facing. I always envisioned being holed up in a lab!
It's definitely a problem that student nurses aren't really presented with all of the career options available to them, however this is a pretty niche role. I wouldn't like to guess how many research nurses there are in the UK but it certainly isn't a large profession.
There really is no such thing as a 'general' role. I work for a private company - different private employers will focus on different therapeutic areas (so will do totally different studies). Some will offer things like mobile nurses who conduct studies at the patient's home, others like mine are clinic based. I'm involved in Phase II to Phase IV research mostly, and none of my work is with inpatients, however that is also an option within research nursing, particularly if you want to work in Phase I or 'first in human' trials. I'm fortunate in that in my role I work on around 10 active studies at any given time - others working in the NHS often work on only one study, or a much smaller number.
I'd rather not share my employment history for purposes of maintaining some anonymity, however I did have some post-registration experience prior to applying, however in a totally unrelated area. As I mentioned in a post above, it's certainly beneficial to have some post-registration experience. My role specifically requested a 'breadth of post-registration experience'. You can always look at current job advertisements to see what is required.
In terms of career progression, if you work in the NHS you can move up the bands as usual. There is always tiered seniority in any research setting unless you are the sole research nurse, so you will have more junior research nurses, senior research nurses and a research nurse manager. From there, you can move outwards into less patient-facing roles such as clinical trial management or monitoring, for example.
My masters is in Health Research. It wasn't a requirement for my role - I've been in the job for over two years. The only requirement was my current NMC registration.
We do have a lab on site, however we have technicians who do most of this work. We're all trained up to process the samples in case of sickness/holidays however it's not something I personally enjoy hugely. In many settings they won't have an onsite lab, we just have it because we process a large volume of samples which need to be shipped in a very specific way.
Hope this helps!
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